After overcoming her initial reluctance to run for office, Pellerin now chairs the Assembly Elections Committee.
After moving to Santa Cruz, Calif., in 1993, Gail Pellerin spent more than 27 years working for the Santa Cruz County elections office, first as elections manager and then as clerk. Although she had always wanted to help elect a woman for her district’s Assembly seat, she was reluctant to run herself.
When her predecessor declined to seek reelection, Pellerin waited until the last day to submit her candidacy. Despite her hesitancy, she won that election and assumed office in 2022. She now chairs the Assembly Elections Committee, bringing her elections expertise to the Legislature.
Pellerin recently spoke with NCSL about how working as an election official impacts her role in the Assembly, how Prop 50 came to be and what the Elections Committee will focus on in 2026.
What were some of the highlights from your time as the Santa Cruz County clerk?
Ensuring that people could easily vote was first and foremost. It was important to remove barriers that people might have when voting, whether it be language, accessible polling sites, people in residential facilities, eligible voters in jail, or students. We focused on improving the voting experience, because if voters have a positive experience, they come back and vote again. The idea was to always encourage every eligible registered voter to cast their ballot because their voice matters. When the internet first became big, I revamped our website and posted election guides because knowledge is power. I extended voting hours, and my county was one of the first to have weekend voting to help voters who might have been working during normal hours. One of the last things I was able to do was purchase a vote mobile, which was a big trailer that we decorated in red, white and blue. During the pandemic, we would drive it to residential facilities, farmers markets and homeless shelters to meet voters where they were.
How does your experience as an election administrator affect how you legislate on elections?
A lot of bills I’ve proposed so far have been to codify some of the things I did as county clerk. One of my former election colleagues came to me with concerns about their county board wanting to eliminate their use of voting machines and move to hand-counting votes, so I proposed a bill. This was one of the first bills that I successfully ran, and it now requires every county in California to use federally and state certified voting systems. The bill received bipartisan support, and my Republican colleagues trusted my expertise when I explained why the bill was important. As election issues arise, I try to educate my colleagues and provide historical context on policy. I am a staunch defender of the ballot, and I believe it should be an impartial document that is easy to use and understand, so we’ve done some work on plain language for ballots and voter guides. I’ve been blown away by how much my colleagues respect what I have to say.
In November, California voters passed Prop 50—a legislatively referred constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to redraw Congressional lines that remain in effect until the next redistricting cycle. What was the process like, and what’s next?
I feel strongly about our independent redistricting commission, and that mid-decade redistricting is for when there’s legal action requiring redrawing of maps. However, I feel that California can’t be in its own bubble, and we have to stand up for and defend what we believe in at the federal level. So, we decided to address it by bringing the concept of mid-decade redistricting to the voters. I reached out to my former election official colleagues to make sure that this was doable in such a short amount of time. We had everyone rowing in the same direction. I was super impressed with the way the maps were drawn. They even received support from some of our independent redistricting commissioners. Seventy-six percent of the lines were drawn by the independent commission, and only 24% were redrawn. We followed the Voting Rights Act, we followed compactness, communities of interest, and we added party registration to the criteria. The constitutional amendment passed by a wide margin, and it was clear that California voters were on board. A lawsuit has been filed, and a court hearing is coming up, but we are confident the maps will be successful in court. Now it’s up to the voters to decide who occupies those seats.
What are the priorities for the Assembly Elections Committee in 2026?
We are focused on protecting elections from interference and threats to election integrity. One thing that definitely concerns me is AI around elections. Last session, I did a bill to ban the use of AI to impersonate an elected or election official by creating something they did not do or say. There is current litigation on that law, so we’re looking for other ways to keep elections safe from malicious use of AI intended to deceive voters. We’re also keeping an eye on things moving at the federal level that could affect how we conduct our mail elections. There’s a lot happening in elections right now, but as an election geek, I love talking about it and encouraging people to vote!
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
