Santa Cruz County Democratic Party

10/17/2026

Santa Cruz Democrats widely endorse Yes on E Santa Cruz County!

A question we hear from Democrats all the time is "What can we do to push back on what the current administration is doing? How can we help." Right now, a very important thing you can do is to VOTE YES ON MEASURE E - the 5-year, 1/2 cent sales tax increase that will help offset the $200M a year that H.R.1. will be cutting from our local hospitals, healthcare clinics, food banks, and other life-saving safety net services.

This small contribution (amounting to fifty cents per hundred dollars of eligible purchases, which do not include most groceries, medicine, diapers, baby formula, or feminine hygiene products) will provide an essential, reliable funding source to help triage the worst of the impacts until we can get into (hopefully) a better political atmosphere.

The upcoming federal cuts will impact EVERYONE - not just the 25K Santa Cruz residents who are expected to lose access to benefits through MediCal in the next year and a half. If hospitals or healthcare providers have to close their doors or cut services, you will have to go elsewhere whether you have insurance or not. That means longer and more costly travel time to get to care, when time could be a matter of life and death.

The network of Santa Cruz safety net service providers is expected to lose $200M next year, once the larger provisions of the Big Belligerent Bill take effect in January. Measure E won't be able to backfill those losses but would provide $27M to help prevent major systems failures.

This is how you can help ensure we still have a safety net by the time we get to the next election - Vote Yes on Measure E!

10/15/2026

Vote NO on Prop 44 - Don't gut funding for our health clinics.

By narrowly defining what counts as patient care that health clinics must spend 90% of its funds on, Prop. 44 jeopardizes the ability of health clinics to cover key costs (like health insurance enrollment assistance, patient transportation, translation services, and even help scheduling a follow up appointment).

Locally, if Prop. 44 passes, Santa Cruz Community Health, which operates clinics in Santa Cruz, Live Oak, and Ben Lomond and cares for more than 13,000 residents, stands to lose close to $2.5M in the first year of implementation - at the same time that impacts from H.R.1 will be drastically reducing funding to health and safety net services.

Don't be fooled by this "transparency" measure. Vote NO on Prop 44!

10/15/2026

Why Vote No on Prop 43?
In the past, Santa Cruz residents have been willing to support essential funding for things like emergency services, housing, libraries, and schools when state and federal funding come up short. By shifting the winning threshold to two-thirds (rather than a majority) these self-help measures would become virtually impossible to pass - giving veto power to the minority of voters.

Keep majority control in the hands of Santa Cruz voters. Vote No on Prop 43

Local governments could lose the ability to fund vital functions if Proposition 43 passes, argues a city councilwoman in Sonoma County.

10/14/2026

It sounds so obvious that often people miss the point, but the solution to homelessness is accessible, affordable homes. The most resource efficient way to address homelessness is to prevent people from becoming unhoused in the first place.

Let's invest in helping people into housing! Vote Yes On Prop 1 on or before November 3rd!

10/13/2026

Register or Vote in the Halls of Knowledge: Your Local Library!

The Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department has partnered with the our local library system to bring in-person services to a location near you. Find them there during normal library hours on the dates listed to register, drop off a ballot, get a replacement ballot, or vote using the accessible ballot machine!

10/11/2026

Stop Authoritarian Rule by Voting! Join the Oct. 17 No Kings Day!

https://www.facebook.com/indivisiblesantacruzcounty/posts/pfbid0rSHjdp3US8TdwKKDrpjSUcRhSTNjfo5q8YTDwi9oJZ7KhNMo8dQKaoZ6ieuairy1l

JUST ONE WEEK UNTIL NO KINGS: VOTE EARLY! ✊🏻 🇺🇸.🗳

Join us on Saturday, October 17, 10am-12pm, as we rally on the County courthouse steps, at 701 Ocean St., then line Ocean St. to celebrate voting rights and voting early.

Arrive a little early to enjoy music by the fabulous Healer Trio. The music will start at 9:45am.

After the brief rally on the courthouse steps, we will parade to the County’s secure ballot drop box to cast our votes. Bring your completed ballot to vote early and join in the parade!

Invite your friends and family and bring signs that encourage early voting, standing up for democracy, and voter participation.

We are stronger together and together we say: No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings!

Like all No Kings actions, No Kings: Vote Early is a non-partisan event. This event is all about increasing voter participation and motivating people to cast their ballots before Election Day.

You can sign up on ISCC's official event page on Mobilize, or just show up!
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/1033651/

10/11/2026

Practice Building a Culture of Voting with Family Democracy Day!

🗓️Sat. Oct. 17th
⏰12 PM to 3:30 PM
📍Felton Library, Simpkins Swim Center, Watsonville Library

Some of us learned to vote as our parents or other family members got ready to cast their ballots, but not everyone has had the benefit of coming from a household with a culture of voting. But it's never too late to learn or start teaching your own family to participate in democracy!

People of all ages are welcome to stop by to get some hands on experience from our Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department!

10/11/2026

Have you received your ballot? Still figuring out how to vote?
Check out our local endorsements and the ballot proposition positions and constitutional officers endorsed by the California Democratic Party at https://www.cruzdemocrats.org/endorsements

VOTE ON OR BY NOVEMBER 3 💙
(If returning your ballot on November 3rd, vote in person or use an official ballot box - ballots put in mail boxes for pickup on Nov. 3rd will not be postmarked the same day so will not be considered valid).

10/11/2026

What do you mean "Vote Naked?!!!"

There's a lot to love about universal vote-by-mail, but there are some downsides too:

- When not voting in person you can't immediately resolve an issue (like a questionable or missing voter signature) increasing the need to get voters to come back to "cure" their ballots.

- Mail in ballots might be disqualified for not being postmarked or arriving in time. (Don't mail your ballot Nov. 3rd, drop it in an official drop box or vote in person).

- And it's a LOT more work for the the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections, who now typically have to open 95K envelopes each election (which costs more money and means results are slower to process).

You can help avoid these issues by choosing to VOTE THE NAKED BALLOT - that is, filling your ballot out at home and then bringing it to an in-person voting location to cast it without its envelope (its "clothes").

Is this a fancy way of saying "vote in person"? Yes, the only difference being that you use the ballot you received in the mail and filled out at your leisure.

Regardless of how you choose to case your vote, thank you for voting!

Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber says "voting naked" is a benefit both to the voter and elections staff.

10/09/2026

Our Voter Registration and Education Subcommittee has been hard at work registering voters all over the county ahead of the election! A special thank you to the County of Santa Cruz Elections Department for providing us with a comprehensive training on best practices when registering voters 💙