Citizens for Santa Clara County

Pulling together
Photo by Anna Samoylova on Unsplash

For our own self interests and for the greater good of our community, This group is set up to help with the 3 E’s , that is Educate, Empower and Encourage ourselves and others within Santa Clara County to vital and important topics within Santa Clara County. In order for us to maintain the live we have enjoyed in Santa Clara County, we can no longer be apathetic about what the county is doing. It is essential that we understand how our local government is structures. We need to stay on top of the decisions they made on our behalf and have the necessary oversights to ensure the decisions made on our behalf is truly aligns with the best interests of our county citizens.

What is the County doing?

Santa Clara County is a charter county. In order to understand what the county is doing and what the board of supervisors are bounded by, we must first study the Santa Clara County Charter. Below is the link to the Charter:

Santa Clara County Charter

There are a couple items in the charter that most if not all citizens of Santa Clara County may not know. The question is, are we OK with them?

Board exempt themselves?

ONLY Board of Supervisor candidates are EXEMPT from paying Statement of Qualification in the Voter’s Pamphlet

Santa Clara County Charter page 2
Santa Clara County Charter page 3

Ranked-Choice Voting Hidden in SCC Charter

In 2023, state assembly pushed through bill AB1227. The bill deceptively claiming that Santa Clara County Citizens WANT to use Ranked-Choice Voting for their election. In reality, it was attempt to resurrect a 25-year old charter amendment that most current Santa Clara county citizens don’t even know about and do not agree. The amendment give the board of supervisors authority 25-years ago when the technology didn’t even exist to use “instant run-off” AKA Ranked-Choice Voting at will. REALLY???

Santa Clara County Charter page 6

What are we working on?

Conduct ongoing Santa Clara County election related analysis and oversight.

Working with, collaborating and supporting neighboring counties on election related projects.

2024 election voter education.

What have we done?

We have created a series educational materials to help people understand how Vote-by-Mail and Vote-in-Person ballots are processed.

Before 2022 primary, we have conducted 7 zoom meetings to share with the community our insight on how to research and select the candidates that align with our values.

We have collaborated with EITTACA and created Ranked-Choice Voting animation video to educate voters on the danger of Ranked-Choice Voting.

We have analyzed Santa Clara County voter rolls and many election related materials.