This article originally appeared in UCLA IDEA's "Themes in the News"

Arts for LA encourages artists, arts leaders, and arts supporters to participate in the civic process this spring by serving as a election pollworker. 

The Santa Monica Mirror reports Santa Monica City Council candidates can now be viewed responding to issues in a YouTube video as part of their election campaigns.

Produced by Santa Monica CityTV, the recordings invite the candidates to respond to a variety of issues facing Santa Monica, including the city's fiscal health, the plight of the homeless, and traffic.

Californians: click to register online!

This blog post originally appeared on KCET's Artbound as part an ongoing partnership with Arts for LA. It is reposted with permission.

California recently became the 13th U.S. state to facilitate fully online voter registration.

"Though most states still cannot offer online voter registration, I am thrilled to say the largest state in the nation is ready to roll," Secretary of State Debra Bowen said in a statement announcing the new system. 

Americans for the Arts reported yesterday the Democratic National Party included an "arts and culture" plank in its current year party-wide platform.

Arts education supporters who want to help survey school board candidates this fall can log into a free training webinar hosted by California Alliance for Arts Education on September 6.

Arts for LA will share its annual school district candidate survey results with the California Alliance for Arts Education as part of that organization's statewide movement to get candidates to provide clarity on their arts education philosophies, priorities, and perspectives.