Register online or at the Elections Office.  Hours are 8:00am – 12:00pm and 1:00pm – 5:00pm, excluding holidays. 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy, Suite 134, Santa Maria, CA 93455-1310)  1-800-722-868       Link to Map

Once you are registered or have updated any status or address changes, scroll down for more voting information.

Register to vote online or check voting status:  https://registertovote.ca.gov/

(Allow at least 48 hours for online registration for the verification process to be completed.)

Requirements to Register to Vote in California:

• A citizen of the United States,
• A resident of California,
• At least 18 years of age at the time of the next election,
• Not currently serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony (for additional information on the rights of people who have been incarcerated please visit the Secretary of State’s Voting Rights: Persons with a Criminal History page), and;
• Not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court (for more information, please visit the Secretary of State’s Voting Rights: Persons Subject to Conservatorship page).

Once your registration form is received and processed, the county will send you a Voter Notification Card within 2 to 3 weeks indicating that you are now registered to vote.

If you are under 18, you may pre-register to vote if you meet the following qualifications:

• Be 16 or 17 years old, and;
• Meet all of the other eligibility requirements to vote listed above.

You will automatically be registered to vote on your 18th birthday.

CLICK HERE: Registration and Voting information for Youth.

You must re-register to vote if you:

• change your name
• change your address
• wish to change your political party preference
• change your signature

If you do not have a California Driver’s License or California State Identification card, you can still use the online voter registration form to apply to register to vote. However, you will need to take additional steps to complete your voter registration.

f you are unable to retrieve your registration information, please call (800) SBC-VOTE (800-722-8683).

More details at the Santa Barbara County Elections website:

  https://www.countyofsb.org/1139/Register-to-Vote

Want to know what voting District you are in?  CLICK HERE to look up Districts and Representatives by address

ONCE YOU ARE REGISTERED AND HAVE YOUR BALLOT..GET READY TO VOTE!!

This is a Presidential election year.

Joseph Biden is the Endorsed Incumbent Democratic President.

The CA Democratic Party has endorsed Proposition 1

and these Democratic candidates:

U.S. Congress, Dist. 24, Salud Carbajal, Incumbent

State Senate, Dist 21,  Monique Limon, Incumbent

State Assembly, Dist 37, Gregg Hart, Incumbent

There are two U.S. Senate  terms for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat;

one for the remainder of her term and one full term.  Vote Democrat please.

CONVENIENT!!  Mail completed ballots…no stamp required… or there are several secure ballot  “drop boxes” available 24 hours a day until 8:00 p.m. on election day.   https://www.countyofsb.org/3265/Current-Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations-by-Are

The U.S. State Department is providing up to date resources available:

https://il.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/security-and-travel-information/

Congressman Salud Carbajal can help with State Department issues.   Call any of the offices:   https://carbajal.house.gov/contact/officeinformation.htm     

or send a note:   https://carbajal.house.gov/contact/

BUTLER, Laphonza Romanique, will become the first Black lesbian to openly serve in the Senate. She will serve out the remainder of a Senate term left vacant by the death of Dianne Feinstein, who represented California for three decades.  Born in Magnolia, Miss., May 11, 1979; graduated South Pike High School, Magnolia, Miss., 1997; B.A., political science, Jackson State University, 2001; union organizer and president; political campaign consultant and strategist; political action committee executive; University of California Board of Regents 2018-2021; appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate on October 1, 2023, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dianne Feinstein; took the oath of office on October 3, 2023.

More information:

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/10/01/governor-gavin-newsom-appoints-laphonza-butler-senate/

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/03/1203173444/calif-gov-newsom-names-laphonza-butler-to-finish-sen-feinstein-s-term

Contact Senator Butler:  https://www.butler.senate.gov/

August 13, 2023:

Indictments filed by the D.A. of State of Georgia.

Trump, for the fourth time being indicted in the last year, and 18 others have been indicted in Georgia for their illegal involvement in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.  Defendants have until August 25th to submit to the court house where they will be booked. Eight of the defendants are attorneys.  The D. A. targets March of 2024 for the trial.

The Indictment document:  https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23909543-23sc188947-criminal-indictment

Who are the defendants?  ://wwwhttps.politico.com/news/2023/08/15/fulton-county-trump-indictment-defendants-00111220

August 3, 2023:

4 felony counts filed by the U.S. Dept. of Justice

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.  The indictment from the Department of Justice describes six co-conspirators who assisted Trump, including four attorneys, a DOJ official and a political consultant.  They also sought to organize “fraudulent slates of electors in seven targeted states” and use the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations and to send a letter to the targeted states that falsely claimed that the Justice Department had identified significant concerns that may have impacted the election outcome.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-indicted-on-federal-charges-in-jan-6-case-special-counsel-jack-smith-announces

June 8, 2023:

37 felony Indictments filed by the U. S. Dept. of Justice

The twice impeached Trump will be arraigned on federal criminal charges June 13,  2023 in Florida.  Read the entire printable 49 pages of the 37 indictments, which includes espionage, obstruction, and conspiracy charges:  https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/06/trump-indictment.pdf

“Our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the rest of the world.  We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone,”  said Jack Smith,  Special Counsel  of the U. S. Department of Justice,  when he made the detailed charges filed June 8, 2023 available to the public on June 9, 2023.

“Our laws that protect our national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced,” Smith said. “Violation of those laws put our country at risk.”

Smith did not go into the details of the indictment, but instead urged people to read it.

https://news.yahoo.com/prosecutor-overseeing-trump-case-says-194008253.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Later Smith said that he would seek a speedy trial, but he also seemed to counter some of Trump’s attacks — including that this was a “boxes hoax” — by arguing that the case was about national security.

 Who is co-defendant Walt Nauta?

The only other person named in the indictments was Walt Nauta,  the personal military valet to Trump during his presidency, and later Trump’s aide as a private citizen at Mar-A-Lago.  Nauta is a native of Guam..  Nauta attracted the attention of the government for his appearance on security camera footage from the club, which was subpoenaed by prosecutors, moving boxes in and out of a basement storage room after a grand jury subpoena.  In interviews with government officials, according to the indictment, he gave false testimony about whether he had moved boxes to Trump’s residence earlier in the year. In reality, according to the indictment, Nauta brought several boxes to Trump’s residence from the storage room at a time when National Archives officials were seeking the return of presidential material, but he told investigators he didn’t.

March 30, 2023:

34 felony counts filed by Alvin L. Bragg, New York State, Manhattan District Attorney

Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a series of Trump Organization checks he signed in 2017 to his personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. The payments were to reimburse Mr. Cohen for a hush money payoff he had made in October 2016 to a porn actress, Stormy Daniels, to cover up a potential sex scandal just before the election. But, according to the indictment, internal documents falsely recorded the checks as payments for legal work Mr. Cohen had purportedly performed in 2017 under a retainer that did not exist.

—————————————————

Comparing the legal cases against Trump (written by the New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-cases-counts-charges-strengths.html

Final Report,   December 21, 2022:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtwItbTPWNE

 Criminal Charges recommended by the Committee on December 21, 2022:     https://santamariademocrats.info/criminal-referrals-made-by-the-january-6-committee/

NEWS COVERAGE: 

CBS News:    https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/january-6-committee-conclusion-trump-ultimately-responsible-for-insurrection/

Newsweek:    https://www.newsweek.com/jan-6-criminal-referral-charges-against-trump-will-stick-kirschner-says-1767978

Review of the hearings and discussions on C-SPAN:   https://www.c-span.org/search/?searchtype=Videos&sort=Newest&seriesid[]=112

Youtube recordings of the Congressional Investigating Committee of the January 6, 2021 Insurrection:

Day 1, June 9, 2022:   https://youtu.be/UiL2inz487U

Day 2, June 13, 2022:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jblC2Ooog2U

Day 3, June 16, 2022:  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-jan-6-committee-hearings-day-3

Day 4, June 21, 2022:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZPBWZcr-vw

Day 5, June 23, 2022:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eNhqobJl_E

Day 6, June 28, 2022:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC3_VFFJlSY

Day 7, July 12, 2022:   https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/january-6-hearing-july-12-live-with-pbs-newshour/

Day 8, July 21, 2022:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48HH4LVn07g

Day 9, October 13, 2022:  https://www.c-span.org/video/?523473-1/january-6-committee-votes-subpoena-president-trump

Final Report,  December 21, 2022   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtwItbTPWNE

 Planned Parenthood health centers in Santa Maria, and all California clinics, are still open and will continue to provide a full range of sexual and reproductive health care services.   Women’s Health Care in Santa Maria, CA:  https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center/california/santa-maria/93454/santa-maria-center-2250-90170/womens-health

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court has eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade, returning decisions to the states. This dangerous outcome will open the floodgates for states across the country to ban abortion.  With the Supreme Court stripping Americans of their federal constitutional rights, dozens of states can quickly move to ban abortion. We’ve already seen many states pass bans; this decision will fuel the efforts of lawmakers to ban abortion across the country.  Liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan dissented and Chief Justice John Roberts abstained.

Which states are likely to ban abortion?:  https://abc7news.com/which-states-ban-abortion-banning-is-illegal-trigger-laws/11992746/

Supreme Court lIberal Justices warn more rights are at stake:     https://news.yahoo.com/supreme-courts-liberal-justices-warn-145915639.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted, “This is an attack on American freedom. CA, OR and WA are creating the West Coast offensive.  A road map for other states to stand up for women. Time to fight like hell.”    CA Governor Newsom :   https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/06/24/watch-live-california-governor-gavin-newsom-on-states-action-to-protect-abortion-rights/

President Biden and Planned Parenthood respond to Roe v. Wade being overturned: https://abc7news.com/roe-v-wade-overturned-planned-parenthood-abortion-california-rights-is-still-legal-in/11993333/

Vigil in Santa Maria.  110 E. Cook St, Santa Maria, CA  93454 at 5:30 pm on June 24, 2022.

Contact DCSMV Field Organizer Jovany Medina at jovany@sbdems.org to volunteer.  The local campaign is organized and ready to go!!  Volunteers are always needed to staff our Headquarters during the week.  We also attend events to promote our elected officials and the other organizations that help provide community support.  We are a friendly, patriotic, dedicated group of citizens who are interested in the advancement and improvement of  democratic principles for all.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/

This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind. The legislation will help ease inflationary pressures and strengthen supply chains by making long overdue improvements for our nation’s ports, airports, rail, and roads. It will drive the creation of good-paying union jobs and grow the economy sustainably and equitably so that everyone gets ahead for decades to come.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/15/executive-order-on-implementation-of-the-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act/

This framework will set the United States on course to meet its climate goals, create millions of good-paying jobs, enable more Americans to join and remain in the labor force, and grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out.  Read about this bill:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/build-back-better/

Spanish:    https://www.whitehouse.gov/es/

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Other Democratic organization news:

https://www.sbdems.org/

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