“Democracy’s a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and

Conclusions 1

• CL1 Page 9
  The Grand Jury believes that those of us who live in Sonoma County have reason to be grateful for many things. We fully recognize that the County is not perfect by any means, that we collectively face many problems yet to be solved. But we also recognize that we have the benefit of being able to openly discuss (and debate) our problems and to take the most direct action available to a free people when we don’t like what our elected leaders are doing: vote for someone else—freely, openly, and without fear of government reprisal. In short, we live in a place where democracy thrives. It is the considered opinion of the Grand Jury that the Registrar of Voters office does an excellent job of managing and protecting our cherished right to vote, and the Grand Jury commends it for a job consistently well done. The fact that the County’s voter turnout (measured as the percent of registered voters who cast ballots) is consistently among the highest in the state speaks volumes: we believe that if people have an inherent distrust of 5 an election process, they generally don’t bother to participate . The Grand Jury also commends the time and energy spent by public groups, including (in alphabetical order) the Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Republican Party, in observing the election process and asking intelligent and probing questions about our election processes and procedures. The Grand Jury is keenly aware that, by any reasonable measure, the democratic institutions and traditions that most Americans have long taken for granted are under attack. In the minds of some, the notion that all political power is (and, by right, ought to be) vested in the public is outdated, a relic of the past. The Grand Jury urges our fellow citizens to recognize that our ability to control our destinies through fair and impartial elections is no accident: it results from our active participation in the election process. Nor should we blindly presume that democracy just happens —that we can afford the conceits of misguided indifference or self-indulgent, unwarranted cynicism. We can, and should, recognize that our political processes are not perfect, but also that we can, and should, use the power of voting to constructively address our problems. Embracing indifference will, in the long term, invite the undoing of our most fundamental right: choosing who will lead us. The Grand Jury urges all Sonoma County citizens, regardless of political persuasion or preference, to participate in every election. Do not be an idle spectator of an activity that can only thrive with active engagement. 5 The California Secretary of State reports that in the 2022 General Election there were 304,017 registered voters in Sonoma County and 200,347 ballots counted, a 65.9% turnout rate. This compares favorably to the state’s overall turnout rate of 50.8%.

Commendations 1

• CM1 Page 10
  The Grand Jury commends all employees of the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters office and the citizen poll workers who devote countless hours in ensuring that County elections

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.