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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2008

CONTACT

Heather Atherton
Citizen Voice™ Media Relations
916/316-4568
hatherton@citizenvoice.org

CITIZEN VOICE HELPS ELECTION-WEARY CALIFORNIA VOTERS BY OFFERING
FREE NONPARTISAN VOTING TOOLS BEGINNING OCT. 1

(October 1, 2008 – Sacramento, CA) – Citizen Voice, a new nonpartisan movement that inspires, informs
and involves citizens in the public arena, is responding to voters’ need for clear, concise and nonpartisan
analysis of California’s statewide election with groundbreaking nonpartisan online election tools. After two
previous elections this year alone, not to mention recent annual election rituals, California voters are
weary from campaigns bombarding them with confusing information on propositions. The 2008 November
election has one of the largest ballot menus to navigate and voters will be asked to make some very
important decisions, yet there are precious few nonpartisan resources to help voters sift through the
rhetoric while their mail and e-mail boxes fill up daily with election propaganda.

To help decipher the technical language and political speak, Citizen Voice’s 2008 Nonpartisan Election
Project has developed a simple toolkit for this November’s General Election. Beginning today, October 1,
www.CitizenVoice.org will make available free access to lively “mini-debate” videos, with both sides of the
propositions, moderated by widely-respected, nonpartisan broadcast political analyst and co-founder of
Citizen Voice, Gary Dietrich. These debates are also offered in audio and transcript form. As an
important addition, nonpartisan, easy-to-understand written summaries of all 12 of the statewide
propositions will be available. “People are overwhelmed and frustrated by the amount of biased
information pushed at them about candidates and propositions,” Dietrich observed. “Our goal is simple --
provide credible, easy-to-use statewide election information to answer the questions that really hit home to
California voters.”

For the first time, Citizen Voice will offer the ballot measure summaries, which have received rave reviews
from many voters, in Spanish as well as English. “California has a significant number of registered voters
for whom English is a second language. While these citizens can legally vote in their native language,
they have little unbiased information available to them. Thirty-second commercials don’t help in Spanish
any more than they do in English. We want our voter information to help as many citizens as possible.”

Political experts from across California are strongly in favor of Citizen Voice’s efforts. "At a time when
voter trust is at an all time low, it is imperative that we provide information that is both non-partisan and
factual," explained Barbara O'Connor, Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media, at
California State University, Sacramento. "I am delighted to add a new source to that very short list."

For access to the statewide proposition “mini-debates”, transcripts and easy-to-use summaries,
information on Citizen Voice and more, please visit www.CitizenVoice.org. To schedule an
interview with Gary Dietrich about this unique project, please call Heather Atherton at
hatherton@citizenvoice.org or 916/316-4568. A Spanish-fluent spokesperson is also available
upon request.

As a valuable community service, link www.CitizenVoice.org to your web site for free. To access
the CV logo for linking purposes, please contact Heather Atherton at hatherton@citizenvoice.org
or 916/316-4568.

ABOUT CITIZEN VOICE
Citizen Voice is a 501C3 nonprofit, nonpartisan movement with a mission to inspire, inform and involve
citizens in the public arena on behalf of all, especially the vulnerable. For more information on Citizen
Voice, visit www.CitizenVoice.org.

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