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Welcome! We're the UCLA Voter Guide Project—a group of volunteers working to inform California voters on local ballot measures.
Our project's origin story is the simple fact that voters in many California cities—dozens, in some elections—go without consistent, reliable news coverage of their local ballot measures and propositions. We think that, until news coverage picks up in these areas, a group of dedicated volunteers could help fill the gap. So that's what we're doing!
In conjunction with several media partners/news organizations, we're researching the set of local ballot measures appearing on people's ballots in November 2024. While California is definitely not the only state that faces issues in local news coverage, we believe that starting somewhere matters—and that starting local is as good a beginning as any.
If you are interested in helping to research and write up ballot measures, take a look through our list of ballot measures (available here) and reach out to Igor Geyn at igorgeyn@gmail.com with your chosen measure(s). The work is highly flexible, can be done in 1-2 hour increments from any computer anywhere in the world, and is a hugely impactful way to help spread factual, nonbiased information about important policies. We hope you'll join soon!
Keep reading to learn more about out our project.
Support our project on Patreon
Our Mission. To deliver high-quality, verifiable local ballot voter guides to California voters with limited to no local information.
Our Vision. Each city identified by the UCLA VGP as a city/area in need of a ballot guide will have one produced and distributed by the 2024 November election.
FAQs. These are some questions we've gotten from our readers in the past.
How will you be disseminating the ballot proposition information? We're working with several partners at the state and local levels to distribute ballot guides once they're written. This will include (primarily) email distribution, posts on social media, and other channels available to our partners. We are always looking for partners to help us get more guides into the hands of more voters—if you have a network or know someone that can help, reach out to Igor at igorgeyn@gmail.com.
Which cities are you delivering information to? At the moment, our efforts are focused on the following list of cities: Chula Vista, Fontana, Fresno, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Oakland, Oceanside, Oxnard, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Rosa, Stockton. This doesn't mean that every city in the list has a news shortage, but we are working with partners in at least some capacity in every city. In addition, volunteers are available to sign up for writing a ballot summary for any of the ballots listed on the 'ballots' tab of this doc; all you have to do is pick an unclaimed ballot and send an email with your preferred ballots to igorgeyn@gmail.com.
What does it look like to volunteer for the VGP? It's super straightforward: We already have most of the infrastructure setup, so we really just need folks to help research and write up summaries. You don't have to be a poli sci major or a policy expert to help out. In fact, because most people in California aren't either of those things, the more breadth and diversity we get in our submissions the better. If you've ever been curious to try your hand at policy writing but haven't had any great opportunities, this could be your chance! We will share example ballot guides once we have some available.
Who can volunteer for the VGP? Anyone and everyone. If you have an interest in helping California residents become more informed (and thus more powerful) voters, we'd love your help. Check out our flyer below to learn more.
What if I want to help, but don't have time to research and write? We have a Patreon setup to accept donations from anyone who wants to help defray data costs, newspaper paywall costs, and pay for the occasional pizza or coffee run. We are an entirely volunteer-run group and all donations go to help the project. https://www.patreon.com/igorgeyn
What is your political bias? We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. We do not work for any political party and, besides being a group of (mostly) UCLA students, are not employed by the university or any interest group. We are funded completely by the efforts and resources of our members, and by the efforts of the individuals who support us. We have people from a variety of experiences and walks of life on our team; if you're ever curious to learn more, just ask.
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