Election Day on November 3 is just over four months away. This year, all active, registered voters in California will get a ballot in the mail. Senator Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, is chairman of the California Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
Historically, 60 percent of Californians vote by mail, but Sen. Umberg expects that number to be higher this year.
“This election I think is the most important election certainly in my lifetime, so we want to make sure that everyone who is eligible to vote is enfranchised.”
Polling places will still be an option for those who like to vote in person and for those who need to vote in person, such as those who change their registration just before Election Day or for those whose ballot was lost.
On Super Tuesday in March, voters who visited a vote center in Los Angeles County were faced with an hours-long wait in line and malfunctioning machines.
“We need to do better in Los Angeles County and other places in the state that experienced some challenges that were not properly anticipated in the March election. It's even more important in November,” Sen. Umberg said. “There’s going to be some differences in terms of in-person voting.”
In March, many vote centers were open for 11 days prior to the election. Sen. Umberg expects vote centers to open on the Saturday before Election Tuesday in November, allowing only four days for early voting.
President Donald J. Trump has spread the message that vote-by-mail elections contribute to voter fraud, thereby putting Republican candidates at a disadvantage. He recently tweeted, “Because of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, 2020 will be the most RIGGED Election in our nations history - unless this stupidity is ended. We voted during World War One & World War Two with no problem, but now they are using Covid in order to cheat by using Mail-Ins!”
Sen. Umberg said the incidence of fraud from mail-in ballots is “virtually nil.” He also said Republicans actually benefit from vote-by-mail elections.
“From the President on down, folks have propagated a myth with respect to fraud in vote by mail elections,” he said. “Unfortunately, that myth has been spread throughout the country and this year in California as well. One of the ironies as you point out is that particularly, for example in Orange County, is that Republicans typically do better certainly in vote-by-mail ballots and do better in vote-by-mail elections. There are five states in the country that have only vote-by-mail elections, and Republicans do well, if not better, than Democrats.”
California will still send out vote-by-mail ballots despite resistance from Republicans and the President.
“The facts and data demonstrate that vote-by-mail elections are efficient, number one, and number two, that the instance of fraud is negligible, and number three, when we properly prepare, it’s not all that more expensive than in-person voting or the kinds of in-person voting that we’ve done in the past with polling places,” he said.
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