This Sunday the California Civic Engagement Project, or CCEP, at the University of California, Davis, in partnership with the Office of the California Secretary of State, is launching a new, public interactive web platform that maps the relationship between voter turnout and the economic, educational and health challenges faced by vulnerable communities across the state.

This new mapping tool shows voter turnout in recent elections, down to the neighborhood precinct level.  It also highlights “hot spots” of political vulnerability across the state, where residents lack a strong voice in the political process and face multiple disadvantages in terms of economic, educational and health outcomes.

“I grew up in a working class community that had more than its fair share of public health and economic challenges,” Secretary Padilla said.  “As Secretary of State, I’ve made it a priority to reach out to communities with lower rates of civic participation as a way to empower working families to better advocate for themselves through the political process. These maps help pinpoint areas of our state where we must engage more people and elevate their voice in our civic process.”

Examples of phenomena made visible by this mapping platform include:

• The Los Angeles urban core is identified as having low voter turnout areas that also have poor health, economic and education outcomes.
• The San Francisco Bay Area shows concentrations of environmental and socioeconomic disadvantage in Oakland, Richmond, Southeast San Francisco and Pittsburg that correlate with relatively low voter turnout.
• In Sacramento, areas of low voter turnout correlate with neighborhoods experiencing high poverty rates and characterized by low college completion rates.

This new civic resource is freely available to all online.

This project is funded, in part, by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.