“Data shows that sending everyone a ballot in the mail provides voters access.
And when voters get ballots in the mail, they vote,” Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto), the bill’s author, said during a Senate committee hearing in July.
California’s new law will require ballots to be mailed to all voters for statewide elections in June and November.
The idea of universal mailed ballots has been discussed by state officials and voting rights activists for years, but it’s unclear whether the effort would have succeeded if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new law largely follows the lead of other states that mail every voter a ballot.
Remote voting, referred to in the past as absentee voting, is the preferred participation method for most California voters.
“Voters like having options for returning their ballot whether by mail, at a secure dropbox, a voting center or at a traditional polling station,” Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement. »
