Free Republic

SACRAMENTO -- Assemblywoman Nicole Parra on Tuesday gave beleaguered Secretary of State Kevin Shelley two more days to decide whether to testify voluntarily before her audit committee about his handling of federal election funds. At the conclusion of a committee hearing late Monday night, Parra said she would seek a subpoena if Shelley had not agreed by noon Tuesday to appear before the committee's next hearing. Tuesday afternoon, she released an exchange of letters between herself and Shelley in which the secretary of state asked for more time to consult with his attorneys before responding. "As you might imagine, your...

SACRAMENTO -- Kern County Assemblywoman Nicole Parra found herself at the center of a storm of controversy Friday over her handling of a hearing on allegations of wrongdoing by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a fellow Democrat. Republicans and even one Democrat said it looks like a partisan "whitewash" may be under way. Parra insisted that is not the case. A report by the state auditor last month found that Shelley mismanaged millions of dollars of federal voter education funds. The audit followed news reports of allegations that Shelley had used some of the money for self-promotion and partisan political...

Three months ago we said California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley should resign. The case for his departure was compelling then, and it is overwhelming today. Last week, the Bureau of State Audits released a damning report that documents not only gross mismanagement but also what could be criminal violations in Shelley's misuse of federal Help America Vote Act funds. State auditors say that because Shelley's office spent federal funds for activities not authorized under the law, the federal government may end up requiring California to repay millions of dollars. Even Shelley has acknowledged that mistakes were made, but that's...

The California Republican Assembly (CRA) has launched an online petition calling on (Democrat)Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to resign from office. “Kevin Shelley’s acceptance of illegal campaign contributions and his misuse of government funds compromise his position as the top election official in California,” said Mike Spence, President of the CRA. “He should resign in disgrace.” The online petition as well as numerous news articles about Shelley’s controversies can be viewed online at http://www.ShelleyMustResign.com.

SACRAMENTO -- U.S. Senate candidate Bill Jones on Saturday urged Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to resign after federal election officials charged he has let California fall behind in addressing new mandates. Jones, a Republican and former secretary of state, said a warning from the chairman of the nation's election oversight commission that the state could lose out on $170 million due to mismanagement was "the last straw." "He needs to look at that and recognize the crisis of confidence that's there," Jones told The Associated Press. "They're saying if you certify it or not, we don't trust you."

With all the issues confronting Kevin Shelley when he was sworn in as secretary of state nearly two years ago, his inner office was soon consumed by something hardly anyone could have predicted. Electronic equipment. Or, more to the point, his fascination and impatience with it. New documents released by Shelley's office Wednesday under the state's Public Records Act show that in less than two years in office, the San Francisco Democrat spent about $20,000 on laptop computers, cell phones and handheld e-mail devices that he was always exchanging for newer models, passing on some of the older ones to...

Jones told me that Kevin Shelley's office has run out of voter registrations cards. He didn't print enough. Shelley's office has been offering registration cards with Bill Jones' name printed on them.

More news on the Kevin Shelley abuse of HAVA Funds in California. I have been investigating the oversight of the HAVA Funds for the military absentee vote and David Drucker of the LA Daily News has stumbled upon the issue as well.

As the facts reach the surface in a story that is still being researched for full impact, I wondering what the Golden State thinks of its Sect of State denying our military the federal funding set aside to better educate, prepare and provide for their votes...the votes of those who are currently serving California in this war on terrorism, risking the ultimate sacrifice on a daily basis.

Editorial: Shelley should resign Secretary of state has eroded public trust It's time for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to call it quits. As the state official in charge of elections, Shelley bears a particular responsibility to safeguard the public's trust in democracy. He clearly has shirked that responsibility and eroded that trust. That would be a grave problem in any circumstances. With the November elections less than six weeks away, it is intolerable. Shelley should resign immediately. If he does not resign, the Legislature should call a special session and begin impeachment proceedings. The case against Shelley has...

Shelley controversy deepens Internal reports document how election funds were spent at Democratic events. By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, September 22, 2004 New information released by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's office Tuesday shows that consultants paid with federal election funds served as his staff at Democratic political events, including a Sacramento lunch that raised money for presidential candidate John Kerry and a fund-raiser for Assembly Democrats. "Staff activity reports" released to The Bee and other newspapers under the state's Public Records Act show that several of the consultants recorded whom Shelley met...

Score one for the fiscal conservatives, the anti-tax rebels, the government bashers who gripe about "waste, fraud and abuse." In short, the Republicans. Waste, fraud and abuse. That old bromide. Funny thing about bromides, they tend to be rooted in truth. A recently disclosed episode involving legislative pork, a passive state parks department, a San Francisco political powerbroker and Secretary of State Kevin Shelley represents a classic case of waste, fraud and abuse. It's the kind of misuse of public money that makes Republicans look rational when they lecture Democrats: We won't even think about raising taxes until you rid...

She was a grassroots activist in San Francisco's Chinese American community who transformed herself into a City Hall insider through her prowess as a political fund-raiser. An immigrant who became a multimillionaire from real estate deals on the city's west side, she contributed $274,712 to the campaigns of Mayor Willie Brown, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and many other politicians while raising tens of thousands more to benefit the causes and candidates she favored. In response to her aggressive fund raising, critics say, the politicians provided many benefits to Julie Lee, 57, a Sunset District real estate agent and president...

Kevin Shelley, the secretary of state and the busiest guy in California when the polls close Tuesday evening, took time last week to speak to the Los Angeles League of Women Voters at its launch of a get-out-the-youth-vote drive. Under-30s are more inclined to go along with the idea of civil unions and same-sex marriages than their elders — with the possible exception of a certain waitress in Banning. Shelley and his campaign manager, Eric Jaye, both heterosexually married men, were in Banning, conferring at a coffee shop, when the waitress chattily asked where they were from. "San Francisco," they...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - California's top election official said Saturday that he was sponsoring legislation to make corporate elections fairer and give outsiders a real chance to get elected to the inner sanctums of businesses. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, whose office also registers corporations doing business in California, told an annual meeting of the state's Democrats he would soon forward a proposal to make corporate elections more like the U.S. voting system in which anyone can run. "This is the next step where we can oversee the responsibility I have in overseeing some corporate activity with also my...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley announced Friday his office would investigate allegations that city employees were forced to work for Mayor Gavin Newsom's election campaign.</p> <p>"These accusations are serious in nature," Shelley said. He said his Voter Protection and Fraud Investigation Unit would look into the charges.</p>

<p>Recall supporters were out on the sidewalks across the street from Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's office at 5 a.m. today. Counties must turn in their recall signatures by today's deadline.</p> <p>About two dozen demonstrators gathered on the day that counties are expected to report enough signatures to trigger an unprecedented recall election against Gov. Gray Davis.</p>

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will soon be under the microscope, as his office is tasked with determining how the Gray Davis recall signatures are tallied. And perhaps in the process we’ll all see one of Shelley’s classic meltdowns. You see, the secretary has a bit of an anger management problem. Back in 1998, when Shelley was the Democratic leader in the California Assembly, his temper "terrified employees in both his Capitol and district offices," reported Robert B. Gunnison of the San Francisco Chronicle. At the time Shelley openly admitted: "I’m talking to people who are helping me with...

"To help ensure a fraud-free election, the Sec. of State has increased the statewide voter fraud investigations unit , developed a Joint Voter Fraud Task Force with the attorney general's office and published the first ever Voter Fraud Preventiion Handbook which will help every citizen understand and report election irregularities to the Secretary of State's fraud investigation unit.