LETTER TO CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR RON CALDERON.

NEW YORK, NY -- The following information was released by Demos:

The undersigned organizations are pleased to support SB 641, your bill establishing Conditional Voter Registration for California, if the following amendments are made.

We are committed to broadening California's electorate and improving access to voting for all citizens. Our extensive work on voter registration campaigns and Election Day research has demonstrated that all too often our voter registration process acts as a barrier to voter participation. Conditional Voter Registration would dramatically ameliorate this problem by allowing citizens the chance to update their registration the same day they vote.

In addition, Conditional Voter Registration recognizes when the media and public fully focus on elections. You see more people knocking on the doors of their neighbors, phone calls being made to voters, and radio, TV and Internet ads during those last two weeks before an election. The University of Wisconsin NewsLab found that more than 40% of election news stories aired in the last week before the 2006 election in several Midwest media markets. A citizen should be able to walk down to their polling place and vote, even if they make the decision at the last minute.