The IJ will not run the following letter.
More and more voters in the Kentfield School District are outraged by overly-aggressive tactics employed to pass Measure A, the $1,498 annual special parcel school tax that increases yearly.
The measure has met strong resistance. In response, the Yes campaign has engaged in a desperate all-out assault on residents who haven’t voted yet, e.g., with repeated pro-A front-door visits, unwelcome calls to cell phones and workplaces, and being told that their votes are urgently needed and have yet to be received at the county.
This is creepy. The Yes on A committee accesses real-time information about whose ballots the county has received. While offensive, this is perfectly legal; however, what’s not legal is misuse of this information to harass voters, as recently happened on NextDoor in Greenbrae. In a widely viewed episode, a prominent Yes proponent personally attacked a Measure A opponent and stated that the latter’s ballot had been received by the county, therefore, she had no right to voice her opinions on A.
This harassment violates California’s voting statutes that strictly limit who can access voter information and for what it can be used (not to mention 1st Amendment rights). Campaigns are legally required to keep this data secure.
How did this privacy breach occur?
Did it result from unauthorized use of voter data provided to the campaign?
Did a Measure A supporter use the county’s voter portal to impersonate and obtain someone else’s voting records?
Measure A is increasingly a “win at any cost” referendum.
I vote NO.