Ali OTO

“Incumbent Secretary of State is the only person in California who thinks otherwise.” San Francisco—Yesterday’s primary had the second lowest turnout in recent California history, when calculated as the percentage of eligible voters who went to the polls. Of the approximately 20.5 million eligible voters in the state, a mere 5.6 million turned out to vote, for a turnout of 27%.

Despite these numbers, incumbent Secretary of State Bill Jones insisted that turnout was considerably higher (around 40%), based on his calculation of turnout compared to registered voters.

“The incumbent Secretary of State appears to be the only person in the State of California who thinks we had a high turnout yesterday,” Alioto said. “But rather than tell the public that only one in four eligible voters participated in the primary, Jones wants to hoodwink them into believing otherwise.”

Alioto’s statement referred to Jones’ comments in Monday’s San Francisco Examiner. Acknowledging that the major reason for the “increased” participation rate is statistical, Jones stated that he was employing “the psychology of the message” in order to lead people to believe that turnout is higher than more statistically reliable methods (San Francisco Examiner, June 1, 1998).

“Secretaries of State have historically been judged by their ability to involve people in the electoral process, and Jones’ attempt to statistically reinvent his record in office is dishonest,” Alioto said. “By the measure of voter turnout, Jones’ term in office has been a total failure.”

“Cutting people from registration roles is not the key to improving turnout,” Alioto continued. “That’s why, as Secretary of State, I will work to implement same-day registration, multi-day elections, extended voting hours, and the use the power of new information technologies to open up the political process to the nearly 15 million eligible voters who did not participate in yesterday’s election.”

San Francisco, CA—Speaker Newt Gingrich is to appear at a campaign kickoff for Secretary of State Bill Jones today, drawing comparisons between the two officials and shining a light on Jones’ assembly record, which, in some ways, is more extreme than that of the unpopular speaker.

Jones, who represented the Fresno area as a member of the California Assembly for 12 years before being elected Secretary of State, compiled a voting record that rivals that of the most extreme and conservative members of the assembly. Among the most notorious actions of Jones’ legislative career:

Democratic candidate for Secretary of State Michela Alioto noted the similarities between the records of the two legislators. “Gingrich and Jones are cut from the same political cloth,” Alioto said. “Gingrich is unpopular and viewed as an extremist because of his legislative record, and Jones’ views, as demonstrated by his voting record, put him out of step with the vast majority of Californians.”

“Some may have forgotten Bill Jones the legislator,” Alioto concluded. “I am here to remind them.”

San Francisco– Democratic candidate for California Secretary of State Michela Alioto today announced the findings of a statewide public opinion survey commissioned by her campaign.

The poll found that the race for Secretary of State is tied, with 29% supporting Alioto, 29% supporting the incumbent Bill Jones, and 42% of respondents undecided. However, support for Alioto was stronger, with 44% of her supporters stating they would “definitely” vote for her, while only 40% of Jones supporters responded similarly.

The poll also found that Alioto has a higher name identification than the incumbent. In fact, 69% of respondents stated that they had never heard of Bill Jones and a total of 85% of respondents indicated that they had either not heard of Jones or had no opinion of him.

“I am very pleased to be tied with the incumbent at this early juncture of the campaign, particularly in consideration of his 3� years in office,” Alioto said. “The usual advantages of incumbency are not working in his favor.”

“Californians overwhelmingly feel that it is time for a change from Republican leadership in Sacramento, and this sentiment is reflected in the findings of our poll,” Alioto continued.

The poll was conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates. 800 likely voters were surveyed between July 8-12. The margin of error of the findings is � 3.5%. In all ballot tests, candidates were identified by their ballot designations.

San Francisco– Democratic nominee for California Secretary of State Michela Alioto today sharply criticized Secretary of State Bill Jones for his decision to intentionally exclude vital information about judicial candidates from voter pamphlets.

Jones decided to omit two pieces of information about judges that have appeared in ballot pamphlets in previous election cycles. November’s ballot pamphlets will not include the name of the appointing governor, nor will it include the length of the justices’ term. A Jones spokeswoman said that the information was omitted from the voter pamphlet because “we want to be the impartial broker of information” (Associated Press, 8/5/98).

Alioto stated that she disagrees with the decision. “The Secretary of State has an obligation to provide voters with the information they need to cast an educated vote,” Alioto said. “The appointing governor and the length of judicial term are crucial pieces of information that voters need in order to make an informed choice on judgeships. It is not up to the Secretary of State to broker that information.”

“I am appalled that Jones decided to omit this information,” Alioto said. “It gives unfair advantage to incumbents and denies the public of their right to know. Whether the appointing governor was Wilson, Deukmejian, or Brown, it is up to the individual voter to decide if he or she wants to vote on that basis. Excluding the information is far from ‘impartial.’”

San Francisco, CA– In an open letter, Democratic nominee for Secretary of State Michela Alioto has written to Secretary of State Bill Jones asking that he fire the private investigator retained by his campaign. The request was made after The San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 7^th that Jones paid $4,000 to licensed private investigator Cathy Riggs.

Cathy Riggs’ private investigation techniques have attracted much attention and criticism. Roll Call reported in 1996 that Riggs was fired for contacting the ex-wife of Congressman Bernie Sanders and making inquiries of a personal nature. Congressional Quarterly quoted Riggs as saying “I’m very thorough. I do a total, complete package. Contacting an ex-wife is just something on my checklist.” The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that Riggs is known for approaching candidates with details of “past love affairs, the most intimate marriage details, [and] illegitimate children.”

In an open letter to Mr. Jones, the state’s chief elections officer, Alioto noted that the Code of Fair Campaign Practices of the California Elections Code (Section 20440), states that candidates shall not use or permit the use of character defamation, whispering campaigns, libel, slander, or scurrilous attacks on any candidate or his or her personal or family life. “By her own admission, this is exactly the type of investigation that Mrs. Riggs conducts,” Alioto wrote.

“I feel that as the state’s chief elections officer, the Secretary of State has a special obligation to conduct his or her own campaign in an honest and forthright manner,” Alioto wrote. “Retaining a private investigator such as Mrs. Riggs conflicts with your duties as Secretary of State, and I am deeply disappointed that you have decided to take your campaign down this path. I must respectfully ask that you terminate your working agreement with Mrs. Riggs.”

Secretary of State Jones has yet to respond to Alioto’s letter, which was sent to his campaign office on August 7.

San Francisco– Democratic candidate for Secretary of State Michela Alioto made history today when she became the first candidate to post both her own and her opponent�s campaign contributors on-line at www.Alioto98.com.

Alioto developed the website to demonstrate the type of on-line posting she will implement if elected secretary of state. Current Secretary of State Bill Jones plans to implement a voluntary on-line posting in October, but has yet to provide details as to its form, content, and searchability.

“With today�s technology, it is a relatively simple undertaking to post this information in this form on the Internet,” Alioto said, noting that her site was developed by a member of her staff in about a week with the help of a high school intern. “Meanwhile, after nearly four years in office, the incumbent secretary of state has yet to produce a useful program.”

The on-line posting allows interested individuals to search a database of Alioto and Jones contributors. Individuals may search by one or more of the following variables: contributor�s name, amount of contribution, type of contribution (individual, PAC, or corporate), and contributor�s city. For example, a search for individuals residing in Los Angeles who have contributed $100 or more to Alioto yields 6 records. A similar search for Jones yields 1 record.

Searchability is one key advantage of Alioto�s posting. The multiple search fields allow journalists and the general public to quickly determine the name and location of major contributors. “Tagging” records with identifiers such as individual, PAC or corporate– another innovation– provides an easy means for an individual to sift through thousands of contributor records.

“Anyone who has tried to sift through hundreds of pages of campaign reports will find the information on my website to be remarkably accessible,” Alioto said. “Whether one is looking for a particular PAC or for clusters of contributors, my website allows easy access to contributor information.”

Alioto�s site provides another advantage: timeliness. Alioto posted all contributors to her campaign through August 22, 1998, but was only able to post Jones� contributors through June 30, the close of the latest filing period. Alioto offered to continue to update her site with new contributors if Secretary of State Bill Jones agreed to release his contributors in a similarly timely fashion. Alioto also offered to post Jones� information on her web page.

“Jones� program will not post contributor information until late October–far too close to the election to have a meaningful impact,” Alioto said. “If Jones is truly interested in full disclosure, he will agree to release his current contributors so that I may add that information to my website.”

“To my knowledge, we are the first political campaign in history to provide this service,” Alioto concluded. “I hope that my website will provide a model for other campaigns to follow.”

San Francisco– Democratic nominee for secretary of state Michela Alioto today called on secretary of state Bill Jones to oppose Bob Dornan�s plans to deploy �election observers� during this fall�s elections.

The Orange County Register recently reported that Dornan is investigating the possibility of placing election observers at polling places on Nov. 3rd and that Dornan plans to contact California Secretary of State Bill Jones to determine if such observers are permitted. In January of this year Jones stated “there is nothing inherently wrong with poll watchers, as long as it does not cross the fine line to intimidation as happened with the poll guards in 1988″ (Los Angeles Times, 1/18/98).

Alioto stated that Dornan�s plan was clearly designed to intimidate minority voters and called on Jones to oppose it. “Subtlety is not Mr. Dornan�s strength,” Alioto said. “Mr. Jones should not trust Bob Dornan to understand where the �fine line to intimidation� is to be drawn, especially given Mr. Dornan�s continued delusions about his 1996 loss.”

Alioto noted that in the same Orange County Register article Dornan claimed that the presence of election observers in Nicaragua and El Salvador “allowed them to have more honest elections than I had [in 1996].” “Only Mr. Dornan would suggest that we should conduct our elections as they do in Nicaragua or El Salvador,” Alioto said. “I must insist that Mr. Jones denounce these tactics and rhetoric. The secretary of states� office should strongly oppose Mr. Dornan�s plans.”

Dornan�s plan mirrors a 1988 incident, during which the Orange County GOP posted about 20 uniformed security guards at polls in the district where Assemblyman Curt Pringle, R-Garden Grove, was elected. The Republican party later settled a lawsuit for $400,000. Legislators responded to the incident by making it a felony to hire armed or uniformed poll guards.

San Francisco– San Francisco, CA– For the second time in one month, Democratic nominee for secretary of state Michela Alioto has implemented an on-line voter information program sooner than Secretary of State Bill Jones� office.

Alioto�s latest program links all internet websites of candidates for statewide office to Alioto�s campaign website. By logging on to the site (www.Alioto98.com), internet users may easily access the websites of all statewide candidates who have submitted a website address for inclusion in the voter pamphlet.

In contrast, Jones is asking candidates to submit their website addresses by September 24. A letter from his office to candidates does not state when the addresses will be posted on Jones� official government-funded site.

The move comes after Alioto�s late-August posting of Alioto and Jones contributions on-line in a searchable database. Jones� program for on-line posting is not expected to go on-line until mid-October, only days before the election and more than 6 weeks after Alioto�s posting.

“One of my young staff members put this program together in about 4 hours,” Alioto said. “Establishing website links is one of the easiest applications one can implement on the internet. I can�t imagine what Jones is doing over there. Why does he need to ask for everyone�s permission to do his job?”

“Providing information to voters in a timely fashion is the job of the secretary of state, and voters require this information now,” Alioto said. “The incumbent is timing the release of this information to maximize its political dividends. This does not serve the public need.”

San Francisco– Democratic nominee for California Secretary of State Michela Alioto today sharply criticized Secretary of State Bill Jones for accepting his legislator�s salary and per diem while missing hundreds of votes on the floor of the Assembly during the 1994 legislative session.

As a member of the California Assembly in 1994, then-Assemblyman Bill Jones missed 332 floor votes during the 1994 legislative session, Assembly records show. The number of missed votes reflects Jones� 1994 floor record only (the last of the twelve years that Jones was in the Assembly) and does not include missed committee votes.

In 1994, legislators received a per diem of $101 per day once they checked in at morning roll call. The per diem payment was in addition to a legislator�s annual salary of $52,500, and legislators could opt to waive the per diem if they were conducting personal business.

Jones failed to waive his per diem on days he missed votes. In fact, Jones often claimed his per diem only to miss dozens of votes later in the day, a pattern that became more frequent in the fall of 1994 while he was in a tight race for secretary of state. For example, on August 29 Jones checked in at roll call and then missed 38 floor votes; on August 30,Jones checked in and then missed 64 votes; on August 31 he checked in at roll call and then missed 27 votes. All told, Jones missed 248 votes in August of 1994 alone, and collected a total of $5,050 in per diem pay on days that he missed votes.

“While the Assembly was holding floor votes on scores of issues, Jones was not to be seen,” Alioto said. “Jones was in a competitive race for higher office at the time. He should explain where he was and what he was doing when taxpayers were paying him to represent them.”

Over the past year, Jones has repeatedly criticized Alioto for failing to vote as a private citizen in several elections in the early to mid-1990s. In a letter recently sent to Alioto, Jones wrote “[v]oters…throughout the state have repeatedly told me that they believe voting is a critically important qualification for this constitutional office.”

“I have, and always will, take responsibility for my actions,” Alioto said. “It is time for Mr. Jones to explain why he ignored this �critically important qualification� when he was being paid by taxpayers to represent the people�s interests.”

“The public trusted Mr. Jones to carry out the duties of a member of the California Assembly, and taxpayers paid him over $60,000 in 1994 to do his job,” Alioto said. “Mr. Jones failed the people who elected him and who paid him. He took the money and ran.”

It’s a simple fact of today’s electoral system that young women between the ages of 18 and 45 vote less frequently than males in the same age bracket. Many women in this age group are know as “drop-off” voters: they vote in presidential years, but not in critical off-year elections such as our up-coming November election.

The fact that young women vote less frequently than young men has great ramifications for a host of public policy issues that affect women. Issues such as a woman’s right to choose, the education of our children, and public safety are being disproportionately decided by men.

Michela Alioto believes that we must make reforms in our electoral system that will lead to fairer representation for all Californians. Multi-day elections, same-day polling place registration, and permanent absent voter status are ideas that have been implemented in other states and will improve voter turnout here in California as well. Innovations in communications technology, such as on-line voter registration, on-line voting pilot programs, and other information services will also increase voter participation, particularly among young women.

Michela Alioto believes that if we hope to send the right message to the young women of California, we must lead by example. In her campaign for Congress in 1996, she was occasionally criticized for being “too young” for the job- a criticism that was not leveled at the scores of young men in their 20’s who have been elected. The right message to send to young women is that we can succeed as often as men, if we are tenacious and persistent enough. Unfortunately, there has never been a young woman elected to a statewide office in California to serve as an example of this fact.

The Secretary of State is the third-highest constitutional officer in the State of California, and as a result, can act as a high-profile spokesperson for the scores of issues that affect women in our state. As a pro-choice, Democratic woman, Michela Alioto understands these issues.