California’s experiment with universal mail ballots now permanent

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A welcomed side effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, universal mail balloting will become a lasting staple of California politics under legislation signed Monday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Joining states like Colorado, Oregon and Vermont, the Golden State will send all registered voters mail ballots in all future elections whether they want them or not.

Newsom credited the state’s recent universal mail balloting experiment with spurring record-breaking participation in the 2020 presidential election and said the method will remain a vital piece of the state’s ongoing quest to make voting convenient for over 22 million registered voters.

“As states across our country continue to enact undemocratic voter suppression laws, California is increasing voter access, expanding voting options and bolstering elections integrity and transparency,” the Democratic governor said in a signing message. “Last year we took unprecedented steps to ensure all voters had the opportunity to cast a ballot during the pandemic and today we are making those measures permanent.”

Though absentee voting has been incredibly popular with California voters for over a decade, lawmakers used the pandemic as a pretext in passing legislation that required counties to send all registered voters ballots in the mail for the 2020 general election. Proponents argued the move was needed to qualm voter fears about catching Covid-19 at the polls and in turn prevent a turnout disaster.

The initial returns were rosy as 80% of registered voters returned a ballot, marking the state’s highest turnout for a general election since 1976. Furthermore, of the record 17.7 million that voted, nearly 90% cast absentee or mail ballots.

Following the historic election, the Legislature voted to extend the temporary policy and all voters in the recent gubernatorial recall received mail ballots. Final results have yet to be tabulated but returns show Californians once again overwhelmingly shunned polling centers in favor of the mailbox in the recall election.

Assemblyman Marc Berman said unlike other states, California is looking to make voting as easy as possible through his proposal, Assembly Bill 37.

“When voters get a ballot in the mail, they vote," said Berman, D-Palo Alto. "We saw this in the 2020 General Election when in the middle of a global health pandemic.”

Earlier this month, state Senator Shannon Grove said the bill could result in ballots being sent to inactive voters due to counties’ unkept, inaccurate voter rolls. On the Senate floor she claimed a minor in her Central Valley district was sent a ballot and detailed examples of other constituents receiving multiple ballots.

“Making this a forever process in the state of California does undermine election integrity,” said Grove, R-Bakersfield.

In addition to mandatory mail ballots, AB 37 requires counties to count absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day for up to a week after the election.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, appointed by Newsom last year, praised the bill’s passage.  

“Vote-by-mail has significantly increased participation of eligible voters,” Weber said. “And the more people who participate in elections, the stronger our democracy and the more we have assurance that elections reflect the will of the people of California.”

Newsom inked a total of 10 election-related bills on Monday. Other notables measures include Senate Bill 503 which creates a statewide signature verification system for mail ballots, and AB 1367 which increases penalties on political candidates who use campaign funds for personal use. The governor also approved SB 686 which requires limited liability companies that make campaign donations to submit stricter reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission.   

“SB 686 will help foster effective monitoring and enforcement of campaign finance laws and go a long way to ensure that special interests cannot use LLCs to hide the sources of spending designed to influence elections,” the League of Women Voters of California said in a support letter.

Follow Nick Cahill on Twitter

Follow @@NickCahill_5

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit