Some California counties are rolling out Election Day guidelines that press freedom advocates say could improperly shut reporters and photographers out of polling places, raising First Amendment concerns just as voters head to the polls this week.
A coalition of news organizations, including CalMatters, along with the First Amendment Coalition, sent a formal letter to Kern County officials objecting to new media rules that bar journalists from filming within 100 feet of polling places and ballot drop boxes. The coalition says it has found similar restrictions cropping up in other counties as well, suggesting the issue may not be isolated.
The rules appear to be tied to recent poll worker training materials and guidance issued by the California secretary of state’s office, which bars electioneering — attempts to influence how someone votes — at polling sites. That guidance also prohibits photographing or recording voters as they enter, exit or stand inside a polling place without their consent.
But Ginny LaRoe, advocacy director for the First Amendment Coalition, said some counties appear to be stretching that guidance well beyond what state law actually requires, potentially trampling on constitutional protections for a free press in the process. As long as news outlets aren’t trying to sway voters, she argues, there’s no legal basis for keeping them at arm’s length from polling places.
Angélica Salceda, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, raised a related worry: that overly broad restrictions could discourage ordinary bystanders from recording federal immigration enforcement activity if it were to occur near a polling site.
“We don’t want someone who might be reporting potentially unlawful federal law enforcement activity near a polling location to be told that they’re violating the law simply because of where they’re standing,” Salceda said. “Getting that clarifying guidance from county registrars, before those restrictions are misapplied, is very important.”
Keeping journalists away from polling place entrances would be a break from decades of standard American election coverage, during which reporters have routinely captured images of long voter lines, interviewed people about their ballot choices, and documented elected officials and candidates casting their own votes.
Dedee Verdin, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, told CalMatters Sunday night that the office is consulting with its legal experts to clarify the guidance and will provide more information once available.
Other news from around the state this week:
Tech industry money is playing an outsized role in this election cycle. Companies including Meta, Uber and Google account for roughly a fifth of all outside spending in California’s state Senate and Assembly races, according to CalMatters reporting. Total outside spending has already surpassed $128 million, dwarfing the $74 million spent during the 2022 midterms. Industry insiders say tech firms are backing moderate candidates who will allow innovation to continue with lighter regulatory oversight, though critics, including at least one state lawmaker, contend the spending amounts to an attempt to buy influence in Sacramento.
Separately, the Peace Officers Research Association of California is running a smaller but pointed campaign urging voters to remove state Supreme Court Justice Kelli Evans over her record of reopening criminal cases the association believes should remain closed. Organizers don’t expect to succeed but say the effort is meant to send a message to judges who rule on parole decisions.
Closer to home for many Inland Empire families, a new study finds that nearly half of local school board races across California have drawn only a single candidate, as fewer residents are willing to take on the demanding, low-paid work of overseeing K-12 districts. Researchers at USC point to fights over curriculum, along with budget shortfalls, labor strikes and school closures, as factors driving potential candidates away. Julie Marsh, a USC education professor who led the study, warned that uncontested races leave an opening for special interest groups to exert outsized influence over local schools.
Finally, CalMatters is partnering with Your Local Epidemiologist to gather input from Californians on public health priorities. This week’s two-minute survey asks residents about their food choices and concerns over youth vaping, with responses shared directly with public health officials and journalists.
Original source: CalMatters
