Videos from Pew's California voter registration conference now online

Last month, on July 14, the Pew Center on the States hosted a conference in Sacramento at the State Capitol to discuss ways to upgrade California's voter registration process.  I participated in one of the panel discussions; videos from the entire conference are now available via the California Channel's web site.  Here's a rundown:

Session 1:  Conference introduction by David Becker, Project Director, Pew Center on the States, with Gail Pellerin, President of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, and Bill McInturff, Partner and Co-Founder, Public Opinion Strategies presenting Pew research findings.

Session 2:  "The Role of Voter Registration in the Democratic Process", presented by Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown.

Session 3:  "Our Current System - Costly and Inefficient", moderated by Catherine Hazelton, Sr. Program Officer with The James Irvine Foundation, and featuring: John Lindback, Former Director of Elections, Oregon/Alaska; Jill LaVine, Registrar of Voters, Sacramento County; and Kim Alexander, President & Founder, California Voter Foundation.

Session 4:  "Achieving the Dual Goals - Protecting the Right to Vote While Maintaining the Integrity of the System", moderated by Amy Dominguez-Arms, Program Director, The James Irvine Foundation and featuring: Kathay Feng, Executive Director, CA Common Cause; Dean Logan, Registrar of Voters, Los Angeles County; Heather Smith, President, Rock the Vote; Edward Hailes, Managing Director, Advancement Project; Rob Stutzman, President, Stutzman Public Affairs; and Antonio Gonzales, President, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Session 5:  "The Potential for Technology to Improve the Way California Maintains and Updates its Voter Rolls", discussing Pew's plans for an Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), featuring: Jeff Butcher, Executive IT Architect, IBM; Pam Smith, President, Verified Voting; Shane Hamlin, Director of Elections, Washington state; Dave Macdonald, Registrar of Voters, Alameda County; and Jim Dempsey, Vice President for Public Policy, Center for Democracy and Technology.