From the WDC Secretary: April 21st Meeting Notes
1. Evelyn Mendez, appointed in July 2025 as Sonoma County’s first standalone Registrar of Voters, spoke about the department’s new offices at 3880 Brickway Blvd, near the airport and the Registrar’s work to make registration, voting and ballot processing as accessible and transparent as possible. Mendez was accompanied by her deputy Charmaine Cole.
Before coming to Sonoma County, Mendez worked in Santa Clara County for six years as division manager in the Registrar of Voters Department. She started working for the California Secretary of State Elections Division in 1996. I’ve served under six Secretaries of State, she noted.” I have stories. Good ones.”
In her thirty-one years experiences working with elections, voter fraud has been very rare, Mendez said. Most of the time it’s on accident, grandma forgets she’s already voted, or mom and son get their ballots mixed up. In ten years, she’s seen only one case of someone deliberately casting multiple ballots. That’s like one case out of 1.2 million voters, Mendez said.
In her experience, most electoral fraud involved misuse of campaign donations for personal expenses.
The new election offices are designed to make vote-counting as secure and transparent as possible. There are always two people in the room when each ballot is counted, Mendez emphasized. The office will start live-streaming ballot processing as soon as they are received after they are mailed out May 4. Or come pay us a visit, Mendez said, watch us at work. Everything is out in the open. Taking a tour of the Registrar’s office is a bit like looking at newborn babies through the hospital window.
People can register to vote on-line or on paper, Mendez said. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds can pre-register to vote. They will be automatically registered when they turn eighteen. Mendez has been visiting high schools to encourage pre-registration. Some students expressed confusion. Where’s the QR code? That may come in the future, Mendez said. California is currently fifth in the nation for pre-registration, and we’re aiming to be number one.
May 18 is the deadline to register for June 2 primary, but voters may still register as provisional voters up to and including election day.
Ballots may be mailed using the provided pre-paid envelope, or dropped off at drop boxes throughout the county, or in person at voting centers or at the Registrar’s office. Ballots must be postmarked by election day, June 2, to be counted. Since the post office no longer guarantees that mail will be postmarked on the day it is put in the mail, voters are urged to mail their ballots as soon as possible, or at least 5-8 days before election day, or use the drop boxes. Drop boxes are completely secure, Mendez emphasized. Couriers pick up contents daily and all drop boxes are monitored by cameras 24/7.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Registrar of Voter’s office is scheduled for noon May 1. Everyone is welcome to attend. I can let you know now we will a surprise guest, Mendez said. We’re going to have Snoopy!
2. David Schmidt, from the California Clean Money Campaign spoke about the California Fair Elections Act. California Clean Money sponsored the legislative measure, SB42 along with California Common Cause and the League of Women Voters. Newsom signed the bill after it passed. The measure will appear on the November 3 ballot.
I am sure all of you are aware of the unfair influence big money has on campaigns, Schmidt said. It took California Clean Money seven years to pass the Disclose Act, which requires candidates to list their top three donors for donations of over $50,000 on all political advertisements. For the last two years, California Clean Money has been focusing on public financing.
The California Fair Elections Act lifts the ban on public funding for state, city, county and district political campaigns. State and local communities will be allowed to fund candidates for office. Candidates must agree to accept campaign spending limits after obtaining a number of contributions from small donors.
Maine, Connecticut and Arizona already have some form of public campaign financing. In 2018, 85% of campaign money in Connecticut came from public financing. In California, San Francisco Berkeley, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach have established public campaign financing, which led to the election of the first female Asian mayor of Berkeley and allowed Karen Bass to beat her billionaire opponent for mayor of Los Angeles. And don’t forget the big story, Schmidt added. Public financing helped Zohran Mamdani succeed in his run for mayor of New York City.
Communities are allowed, but not required, to offer public financing. Campaigns would be paid for out of general funds, or whatever funding source the local jurisdiction might choose to set up. Candidates’ participation in public financing is voluntary. The Supreme Court has ruled that public campaign funding is legal as long as it is voluntary.
The Citizens United decision in 2010 massively increased the influence of money on the electoral process. The California Fair Elections Act is a step toward reversing that.
Some propositions are game changers. Proposition 13 jump-started the Reagan revolution, Schmidt said. Passing the California Fair Elections proposition might well be another significant watershed.
3. Andrea Nofi, organizer of the first No Kings demonstration to be held in Windsor, was the final speaker of the evening. Nofi, an emergency room nurse, came to speak directly after she got off work.
Nofi said she stumbled into the first No Kings March in New York City where she was visiting on her daughter’s eighth grade field trip. It was inspiring, she said. I had no clue. We were going to go shopping at Marshalls and then see “Hamilton.
This year, she decided to organize a No Kings March in Windsor.
Nofi served as a flight nurse in the Air Force. These kids, sixteen and seventeen years old, didn’t have a clue what they were getting into, she said. Some asked, Why do we need a nurse in the Air Force? She wanted to organize in Windsor to honor these kids, and to bring those who are still serving back home safely.
Nofi is the mother of two trans children and one special needs child. She organized a Girl Scout troop for gay, trans, neurodiverse, and medically fragile children. She was Grand Marshall last year for Windsor’s first Gay Pride Day.
The No Kings March in Windsor came together very quickly. It was just three of us organizing it, Nofi said. She was overwhelmed by the response. An estimated 600 people took part. She is gratified but realizes she can’t do this alone every couple of months.
I am grateful for Andrea Nofi’s hard work and feel honored that she was willing to make time to speak to Windsor Democratic Club. I hope that our community and her community will be able to join forces in the future.
Other:
The club approved the agenda and minutes from the March 21 meeting.
Cathy Meylor-Hooper reminded people to pay their membership dues and make contributions toward the cost of pizza.
Schmidt asked if the Windsor Democratic Club would endorse the California Fair Elections Act. The proposal will be presented to members for a vote at the May meeting. Members may also vote as to whether to endorse Melanie Bagby for District 4 County Supervisor. The Sonoma County Democratic Party has endorsed her.
Meylor-Hooper reported that she had canvassed for Melanie Bagby in Windsor on Earth Day, April 19. There will be canvassing every weekend in other areas. Check the weekly newsletter for details.
Kayla Oseguera reported on the March 28 No Kings Day in Windsor and Santa Rosa. She also mentioned the May 1 Social Strike, no work, no school, no shopping. There will be a workers march from Southwest Park in Santa Rosa to Julliard Park, starting a 4pm May 1.
The next meeting of the Windsor Democratic Club will be Tuesday, May 19, 6:30-8:30pm, Windsor Round Table Pizza, 8499 Old Redwood Highway.
