Election results. Birth certificates. Property deeds. Marriage licenses. Juan Pablo Cervantes has the kind of job that simultaneously undergirds democracy, family history, and property ownership - all through the boring-but-important power of paperwork. He's Humboldt County's Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters, "a title so long, it has punctuation in it," he says. "It's one of those offices that few people know about unless something goes wrong."
Since 2020, the spotlight on election officials has been getting brighter and brighter, and Cervantes says that "in our state alone, we've had several 'suspicious powder' incidents." According toone report, the increased stress and harassment have led to a 40% turnover rate in Western states.According to Issue One, departing officials took about 1,800 years of combined experience with them.
So how does Cervantes combat election skepticism? "I invite them to join us," he says. "For that skepticism to be put to use in such a way as to meaningfully make things better, you really need to see it firsthand, and read our manuals, read the laws, and understand why it is that we do what we do - and whether or not we're actually doing it that way."
Cervantes tells Talk Humboldt that his mission to enfranchise voters doesn't stop there. "We have in the 2022 cycle, somewhere between 40 and 45% voter turnout. And so our problem isn't really registering folks to vote. Our problem is getting folks to participate, he says. "When you look at the process from the typical person's perspective, enfranchisement means you fill out a long form. This is what stops people from voting, it's the fact that they get this spreadsheet that they need to figure out, and it's overwhelming. Nobody's really talking to them on their level without “paid for by” being at the bottom of it. We've been working towards candidate outreach, the idea that in order to get communities to really feel enfranchised, truly, they need to see people from their community on the ballot."
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Tom Jackson:
Hi, I’m Tom Jackson, the president of Cal Poly Humboldt. I'm here today with my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Keith Flamer, the president of the College of the Redwoods. Good to see you, Keith.
Keith Flamer:
It's always a pleasure seeing you, Tom, and being with you in these things.
Tom Jackson:
We are in a very special office in the county courthouse, the office of Juan Pablo Cervantes. Can you say a little bit about what it is that you do and how did you find this role?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So my name is Juan Pablo Cervantes. I'm the Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of voters for the County of Humboldt, a title so long, it's got punctuation in it. It's one of those offices that everybody votes for but few people know about. Unless something goes wrong, we don't really want anything to go wrong, but we feel folks should know what their government is doing for them.
The office has two parts to it. I have two departments under me. I've got the Clerk/Recorder's office. This is where all of your vital documents in your life are recorded and preserved and safeguarded. This is where you'll get to see your great-grandmother's signature, you know, on her marriage license. And so that's one of the things that we do, is we marry folks here in our courthouse. They get that lovely view behind them. And the other part of my job is one that's been more popularized since about 2020. I'm the Registrar of voters for the county. So everything that has to do with the election in Humboldt County comes through my office, everything from voter registration through to the big day and having polling places and tabulating and getting those reports out.
Keith Flamer:
You have a very long title Juan, so what's it like in your life, in a day in your life?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So I think both of you will probably relate to this as it depends on the day. Every day is very different from the next. It's a matter of what, I wake up every morning and the first thing I check is my phone to see what my calendar looks like at that point compared to where it was when I went to sleep. And so it's you know, it's meetings like this. I'm a working department head, which means that I'm running ballots and helping customers. So I do everything, going on up to meetings with the secretary of state's office, meeting with constituents, but at the core of it is solving problems.
Keith Flamer:
We, of course, continue to hear and see everything that happened in the election of 2020.
And there's so much talk on ‘24 how much of that rhetoric across the country does influence or does not influence you in your office?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
It influences us greatly. We have to adapt to radicalizing certain folks. In our state alone, we've had several suspicious powder incidents where officers have been mailed talcum powder or other types of powder with the idea of scaring us due to things like that. You've seen incredible attrition folks that are in my role, so about a 50% retirement rate.
Keith Flamer:
Why do you want this job? Why did you take it? Why did you run for it?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So that story starts a long time ago.
Keith Flamer:
I’d love to hear it!
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So I'm a child of immigrants. My mom and dad came from Mexico. My dad came with the Bracero program. My mom did not come here legally, though at that time there was an amnesty program and so she gained her citizenship, and so did my dad. A day that I remember very vividly was a big deal in our house citizenship. We went to Sizzler for dinner, which was a very big deal in our house. And my mom became a very avid voter, doing her civic duty with something that cost her a lot of work. And she found a lot of value in that. And she definitely instilled that value in us. She had me start being a poll worker when I was 16. I didn't miss an election since then. And when you're around the Democratic process that long, it becomes a part of your identity to engage in the political process.
Keith Flamer:
How do you think we can encourage young people and other people to take advantage of the franchise?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So that's a subject that I really like talking about.
Keith Flamer:
I have heard you just a little bit, but I would love to hear it again. I'd like for you to tell us.
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
So if you look at census data and our voter registration data and our voter turnout data, you see curves that really connect. And so we don't have disproportionately low voter registration. However, we have in the 2022 cycle, somewhere between 40 and 45% voter turnout. And so our problem isn't really registering folks to vote. Our problem is getting folks to participate. I mean, when you look at the process from the typical person's perspective, enfranchisement means you fill out a long form. This is what stops people from voting is the fact that they get this, the spreadsheet that they need to figure out. And it's overwhelming and nobody's really talking to them on their level without “paid for by” being at the bottom of it. We've been working towards candidate outreach, the idea that in order to get communities to really feel enfranchised, truly, they need to see people from their community on the ballot.
Tom Jackson:
I'm guessing that in your role with all this public information, you get to really thrive in that transparency realm where you can make things so easily available for those who really want to see it. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
Yeah. So, you know, one of the things we touched on a little prior to that is some of the difficulties we face post-2020 when it comes to misinformation and disinformation. And in our office, we see transparency as really the mechanism by which we can address that. Misinformation and disinformation doesn't arise in a very information-rich environment. Misinformation and disinformation arises when there's too much opaqueness in government. And so figuring out ways that we can bring the public in is one of the ways that we look to remove the dichotomy between government and the people. And I think when we approach our work from that perspective, I think we get to a more real democracy.
Keith Flamer:
How do you respond to people that say that there's nothing you can trust about the government?
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
I invite them to join us. I invite them to participate, to observe the work we do. And skepticism without understanding isn't really skepticism. In order for that skepticism to really be put to use in such a way that it could really meaningfully make things better, you really need to see firsthand and read our manuals, read the laws, understand why it is we do what we do, and whether or not we're actually doing it that way. And the only way to really do that is to show up.
Tom Jackson:
Juan Pablo Cervantes is the Clerk, Recorder, and the Registrar of voters, among many other things. Thank you so much for your time today.
Juan Pablo Cervantes:
Thanks for having me and for what you're doing. The biggest barrier to participation is not knowing how to participate. So shows like this are doing the meaningful work of getting us past that 45% voter turnout and hopefully getting in that 90% range. I'd like to see voter turnout like I see grades, you know, nineties, maybe the bottom of what we're okay with.
