Secretary of State McPherson visits Westlake




Bruce McPherson

Bruce McPherson


California is better equipped to deal with the coming general election than at any other time in the state’s history, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson told local government and business leaders Monday in Westlake Village.

McPherson, the state’s chief elections officer, said he’s spent much of his year and a half in office visiting all 58 county registrars in California to make sure voting procedures are secure and up to date.

The June California primary was the state’s first election under the new federal Help America Vote Act mandates. The act was passed in 2002 and required sweeping changes in the elections process nationwide.

The next general election is Tues., Nov. 7.

“We wanted to have integrity and make sure every vote counts,” said McPherson, who was named secretary of state in March 2005 following the resignation of Kevin Shelley in a scandal over office partisanship and ineptitude.

McPherson said the “extra check points” in this fall’s election will help reduce absentee voter fraud. Absentees made up 47 percent of the June vote, he said.

McPherson, a former newspaper editor and state senator from Santa Cruz, is up for election this fall. He said in the past he pushed to make the secretary of state position a nonpartisan office, but was unsuccessful. McPherson is a Republican. His Democratic opponent is Senator Debra Bowen of Redondo Beach.

Among those who met and chatted with the secretary during his local v i s i t were Westlake Village Mayor Susan McSweeney and her husband, Chief Bill McSweeney of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Moorpark) also attended.

The breakfast gathering was put on by the United Chambers of Commerce with hosts Richard Leyna, Pam Corradi and Alex Soteras.

McPherson’s office handles all of the state’s business incorporations.

“We want to make sure this is a business-friendly state. . .a onestop shop for business filings,” McPherson said.

Elections are clearly the hot button topic of the day. Due to the influence of special interests there have been statewide elections in each of the past five years, and with voters looking at another 13 initiatives on the November ballot, McPherson agreed that Californians are suffering from “voter fatigue.”

He promised to increase voter registration, especially among 18to 24-year-olds. Only one person in four in that age group voted in the last presidential election, he said.

“We’re going to have better citizens and better communication if people are more engaged in the election process,” McPherson said.

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