CVF in the News
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Come November, every California voter will likely have the option of voting by mail.
To Democrats that seems like a no-brainer, given the pandemic. But to some Republicans it's a recipe for a "rigged election."
Last month, when Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered that all registered voters in California be sent a mail-in ballot for the November election, President Donald Trump was immediately tweeting — and questioning the validity of that process.
"They send out, like in California, millions and millions of ballots to anybody that’s breathing," Trump said during a White House event.
Trump continued: "So when he sends out 28 million ballots and they’re in all the mailboxes and kids go and they raid the mailboxes and they hand them to people who are signing the ballots at end of the streets, which is happening."
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If Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make the November 2020 election a socially-distanced affair, he may need the Legislature’s help after all.
This morning, a California district court judge in Sutter County put a hold on an executive order inked by the governor last week that specified how county registrars should conduct the coming presidential election. The governor’s goal: make sure that all registered voters receive a ballot in the mail to keep as many people as possible away from the polls — and each other.
In response to a challenge brought by Republican Assemblymen James Gallagher of Yuba City and Kevin Kiley of Bieber of Rocklin, Judge Perry Parker agreed that Newsom’s directive may be an “impermissible use of legislative powers in violation of the California Constitution.”
The temporary hold on the gubernatorial order will last until the case can go to trial.
The November election is just five months away, yet there is still uncertainty about how Californians will be voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Counties and voters need guidance now, before we run out of time to make necessary changes to have a safe and secure election. The longer we wait, the more room for error and confusion.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing counties to mail every registered voter a ballot, which has now been challenged with lawsuits, leaving the final determination in legal limbo.
Voters should be assured they need not choose between their health and democracy. In California, anyone can request a ballot be sent to them through the mail. Nearly three-fourths of primary voters in March cast vote-by-mail ballots, returned by mail or in person to a drop box or voting location
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Voting by mail isn’t new in California. It’s been allowed for anyone who’s registered, and for any reason, since 1979, according to the California Voter Foundation.
But with fears that casting a ballot in-person could be risky this fall amid COVID-19, plus President Donald Trump’s misleading claims that mail-in voting “will lead to massive fraud and abuse,” there’s a spotlight on this decades-old practice.
California and many other states are getting ready for a surge of absentee voting. In May, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all counties to send mail-in ballots to all active registered voters in the state.
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GOP groups filed a lawsuit to halt the order, saying it invites theft and cheating and that only the Legislature, not Newsom, has the power to change election laws. State lawmakers have proposed a similar law.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new executive order Friday requiring all counties to provide mail-in ballots to California's 20.6 million registered voters due to concerns about the novel coronavirus outbreak.
"[We want] to make sure we are reaching out to all registered and eligible voters and giving them the opportunity and the choice so they don't have to feel like they have to go into a concentrated, dense environment, where their health may be at risk," Newsom said.
Here are three things you need to know about the new executive order:
1) First in the nation
California is now the first state in the U.S. to provide absentee ballots to all registered voters as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Excerpts:
Citing public health concerns over millions of Californians showing up at voting locations this fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered ballots to be mailed to the state’s 20.6 million voters for the November election while insisting there will need to also be new rules for anyone who participates in person.
The decision makes California the first state in the nation to temporarily shift to all-mail voting as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — prompted, Newsom said, by the likelihood that public health conditions will not have improved to a level at which millions of people could show up on a single day to cast a ballot.
“There’s a lot of excitement around this November’s election in terms of making sure that you can conduct yourself in a safe way, and make sure your health is protected,” Newsom said during a midday event.
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SACRAMENTO — California’s 2020 presidential primary officially entered the history books Friday, as state officials certified a final tally and a rate of voter turnout that, while one of the highest in recent elections, still saw fewer than half of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot.
In all, 46.89% of registered voters cast ballots in the March 3 primary, which was moved up from June with hopes that turnout would be high and presidential candidates would be forced to address issues mattering most to Californians. Turnout was noticeably lower in Los Angeles County, where 38% of voters showed up. It was one of three counties tied for the second-lowest turnout in the state.
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This coming November, every one of California’s more than 20 million registered voters may receive a ballot in the mail — whether they ask for one or not. In fact, many election administrators and advocates say it’s inevitable.
“It’s not a question of ‘if,’ said Kim Alexander, the president of the California Voter Foundation. “But ‘how.’”
California is already ahead of the curve when it comes to voting from home. In the March primary election, 75% of voters got a ballot in their mailbox. But the exigencies of social distancing are putting pressure on state lawmakers to round that up to 100%, ensuring that every registered voter has the option to cast a ballot without having to physically crowd into a polling place.
Following the harrowing scenes of voters braving long lines and exposure to the coronavirus during Wisconsin’s primary election last week, there is a renewed discussion of the importance of vote-by-mail options.
California has long been a leader in this area, but could we see an all mail-in election by November? Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast’s Tim Foster and John Howard to chat about the positives and negatives of vote-by-mail, and she offers some surprises — including the high number of rejected mail-in ballots and the lowdown on voter fraud.