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AP18:070

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2018
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Secretary of State Alex Padilla Announces 2018 Quick Guide to Props Tool

SACRAMENTO – California Secretary of State Alex Padilla is announcing the re-launch of the free, online “Quick Guide to Props” tool for voters. “Quick Guide to Props” provides voters a helpful list of the top ten campaign contributions, funding totals for each of the five statewide propositions, as well as a brief nonpartisan analysis. The campaign finance elements are dynamic and updated daily. This tool was developed in 2016 in partnership with MapLight, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that tracks money in politics.

To view the Quick Guide to Props visit: http://quickguidetoprops.sos.ca.gov/

“Statewide ballot measures have a tremendous impact on the future of our state,” California Secretary of State Padilla said. “‘Quick Guide to Props’ provides voters with a simple and clear view of campaign finance data as well as nonpartisan analysis of the five measures that will appear on the June 5 Primary ballot. In an era where social media can powerfully inform and encourage, as well as misinform and discourage citizens from participating in elections, this tool demonstrates how technology can be used to assist voters in making more informed decisions.”

The Secretary of State previously partnered with MapLight to create Power Search, a campaign finance search engine to help the public more easily review the source, recipient, and amount of state-level campaign contributions to candidates and independent expenditures from 2001 to the present.

Information available in the Quick Guide to Props includes:

  • Summaries of each ballot measure written by the Attorney General’s office.

  • Fundraising data depicted in bar charts of the total funds raised by all committees primarily formed for and against a proposition. This information is based on data from Power Search and analysis by the Secretary of State’s Political Reform Division.

  • The 10 largest contributions during the 2017 – 2018 election cycle to committees formed primarily for and against each proposition.

  • What a “yes” and “no” vote means for each proposition, written by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office.

  • Arguments for and against each proposition submitted by the proposition’s proponents and opponents.

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