New League of Women Voters Pasadena Area President Focused on Voter Turnout, Census Response

It’s been a busy seven weeks for Martha Zavala since she was installed as the new president of the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area, as she works to get out the vote, encourage census responses, and seek out volunteers to work at the polls in November.

Zavala was voted into the position on June 25 to lead the organization heading into an unprecedented presidential election season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the deadline for the 2020 census rapidly approaches.

First and foremost was the goal of encouraging eligible voters to cast ballots.

“What we’re concerned about is the overall low voter turnout,” Zavala said.

The presidential primary election in March saw a 38.5 percent voter turnout rate, compared with 42.13 percent during the presidential primary in 2016, according to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder records.

“We’re worried that this pandemic is going to result again in low voter turnout,” Zavala said.

In preparation for the election, “We’re trying to have an all-out campaign to get people connected with us,” she said.

The League is reminding the public that all voters registered prior to Oct. 19 will automatically receive mail-in ballots, according to Zavala. Those ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 to be counted.

The League of Women Voters Pasadena Area website has been populated with election-related information in order to serve as a “clearinghouse for resources about voting issues,” Zavala said.

Zavala said the League would be intensifying its campaign in the coming days and weeks, using posters and social media to get their message out.

In another side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, poll workers are in short supply this year, she said. Many of the workers who regularly staff the polls are senior citizens, who are at increased risk from the novel coronavirus.

As a result, “The registrar is desperate to recruit poll workers,” according to Zavala.

The League is participating in a socially distanced outdoor voter registration and census drive from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 29 in the parking lot of the Southern California Children’s Museum,  459 E Colorado Blvd., according to Zavala and the museum.

The 2020 census is also a prime focus of the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area, Zavala said.

“We’re trying to get people to understand the impact to them because of the local funding,” she said. From Section 8 housing to education to roads, federal funding is allocated based on the census count, and being underrepresented can be costly

In addition, congressional representation is also allocated based on the census. Depending on the census response, California could stand to lose a congressional representative for the first time in its history, and possibly even two.

The League is also championing Proposition 15, which the organization has long been involved in.

The ballot initiative would get rid of the purchase price-based level of property tax for commercial properties established under Proposition 13 and cause them to be taxed based on assessed value. The funds raised by the measure would be used primarily for education.

“Talk about a really impactful proposition,” Zavala said.

More information is available on the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area website at my.lwv.org/california/pasadena.