"Reaching for the Vote" was the theme of the conference at the California Parent Teachers Association's annual meeting in Long Beach on May 6. Kathleen Weisenberg and Roberta Hollimon were the two Smart Voter representatives and conference participants.

Roberta and Kathleen presented suggestions for getting out the vote for parents, students and teachers as well as opportunities for the PTA and League of Women Voters to work together in getting out the vote. Some of the areas discussed were: how to encourage more voter registration, better ways to inform voters of the candidates and issues, and, to teachers in particular, the importance of using Smart Voter as a portal to all election information for youth programs, such as Mock Elections, Kids Vote, and Kids Voting. The Easy Reading Voter Guide for statewide candidate and issues information is also found on the League's website at http://www.smartvoter.org.

Dawn Mehlhaff, Director of Voter Outreach programs at the office of the Secretary of State, also made a presentation at this yearly meeting. Dawn explained Secretary of State Bill Jones's commitment to 100% voter registration and the launch of a comprehensive campaign to achieve that goal.

The League of Women Voters and Smart Voter work in cooperation with other organizations in the field of service to the voter by co-sponsoring candidate forums and presenting the ballot issues, among others. The League works through its many-faceted Voter Service arena, and Smart Voter through its innovative nonpartisan election website at http://www.smartvoter.org.