Election 2020
California Divide
Replacing cash bail: Fairer justice or robopocalypse?
Prop. 25 would use algorithms to advise judges on bail decisions. So why are some early boosters having second thoughts?
Commentary
Prop. 25 will help build a justice system based on fairness
I know how the predatory bail system works, because I am a victim of it. Its outcomes are predictably unfair, but Prop. 25 will change that.
Commentary
Prop. 25 is dangerous for victims and communities
Prop. 25 would eliminate cash bail or pretrial release programs with a new, unproven automated computer system.
California Wildfires
How to vote in a pandemic when you’ve lost your home in a wildfire
Lea este artículo en español. In August, as lightning strikes ignited fires around his Napa County home, Ian MacMillan escaped the flames with his wife, three kids and mother-in-law. A month later, when another wildfire roared through Northern California’s wine country, they had to flee their home again. “It sounded like a war zone,” MacMillan, […]
Elections
Here’s why election officials say no need to hand deliver mail ballot
California election officials assure voters their ballot is safe in drop boxes and the mail, yet some voters are hand delivering anyway.
Elections
Early voter turnout smashing California election records
More than 4.5 million Californians have already cast ballots in the 2020 general election — and there’re still 12 days to go. Roughly one-fifth of the 21.5 million ballots mailed to registered voters had been processed as of Tuesday evening, blowing away previous election totals. About three times as many California residents have participated in […]
Education
Affirmative action has tons of endorsements — so why is Prop. 16 trailing?
Endorsements from the Democratic party, high-ranking state officials, and several media outlets hasn’t translated to a commanding lead for the Yes side in the polls. How voters feel about affirmative action in a vacuum versus in practice is part of the reason why.
Elections
When will my ballot be counted? The perks of voting early
Flo Hodes is doing everything she can to avoid post-Election Day BS. A Democratic voter living in Oakland, she has watched with mounting concern President Donald Trump’s refusal to say whether he will abide by the reported election results, his continued efforts to undermine public confidence in voting by mail, and recent operational changes at […]