CVF in the News

What To Know Before Voting In-Person In California

By Chris Nichols, Captal Public Radio, October 30, 2020

Excepts:

Millions of Californians have already cast their ballot by mail, but millions more are expected to show up to the polls for early voting this weekend and on Election Day.

They’ll do this amid concerns about voter intimidation, social unrest and a statewide spike in coronavirus cases.

To answer questions about how to vote this year, including how to stay safe while voting in-person and what you can and can’t do at the polls, PolitiFact California spoke with election officials and experts.

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When Will California’s Election Results Be Available?

More than one-third of Calif. voters have returned their ballots

By Ashley Zavala, Fox 5, October 28, 2020

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More than a third of California voters have returned their ballots with less than a week before the election deadline.

The latest numbers from Political Data Inc show 36% of California ballots have been returned as of Tuesday.

“It’s going to really help process those ballots more rapidly and get us to final election results sooner than later,” Kim Alexander with the California Voting Foundation said.

Results from those ballots aren’t being tallied up, they won’t be until Nov. 3.

County elections officials across the state are processing the incoming ballots to make sure they have verified signatures and are able to be scanned.

“Once the polls close, those ballots that are in house that have already been processed are the very first ballots that get counted,” Alexander said.

Study finds younger voters’ mail-in ballots more likely to be rejected

By Julia Shapero, Daily Bruin, October 28, 2020

Young voters in California are more likely than older voters to have their vote-by-mail ballots rejected, a September study found.

The study, which was published by the California Voter Foundation, examined trends in rejected ballots across the state. Over the last decade, election officials rejected 1.7% of vote-by-mail ballots cast in statewide elections, according to the study. However, voters between the ages of 18 and 24 had their vote-by-mail ballots rejected at about three times the rate of older voters in the three counties studied, said Kim Alexander, president and founder of the California Voter Foundation.

Young voters have several factors working against them, said Alexander, who was a co-author on the study. When it comes to casting vote-by-mail ballots, young voters are more likely to be new to voting, unaccustomed to making signatures and unfamiliar with using the United States Postal Service, she added.

Voting by mail? Most Californians have preferred it over in-person voting for years

By Teri Sforza, San Jose Mercury News, October 26, 2020

Excerpts:

In the dramatic midterm elections of 2018, when the fate of the House and Senate hung in the balance and a new governor was about to be enthroned, two of every three votes tallied in California were cast via mail-in ballots rather than by in-person voting —even in the absence of a deadly pandemic.

By-mail voting has long played a dominant role in Golden State democracy, so the ballot-in-every-mailbox experiment currently underway is not so much revolution as evolution. But understanding the particulars of what happened to mail ballots in California’s 2018 election — how many were sent to voters, how many were never returned, how many were rejected and why? — can help prepare for an unprecedented Nov. 3, when counting commences on what may well be the weirdest Election Day in American history.

California Voter Foundation talks mail-in ballots, voter security

CBS 8, October 26, 2020

San Diego's CBS8 TV anchor Carlo Cecchetto speaks with Kim Alexander about CVF's rejected ballots study and vote-by-mail tips. (Full Video)

The deadline to return California ballots is Nov. 3. But waiting until then is risky

By Lara Korte, The Sacramento Bee, October 23, 2020

Excerpts:

Californians have until Nov. 3 to return their mail ballots, but elections officials and experts are encouraging voters to do it sooner rather than later.

Waiting risks mishaps that could lead to a ballot not being counted.

During the March primaries, California counties were unable to count 100,000 mail ballots, and many were rejected because they did not arrive at elections offices on time, according to county data compiled by the Secretary of State’s Office. Legislators hoping to ameliorate the problem extended the deadline for receiving ballots from three days after the election to 17 days.

LA County is Tabulating Votes with QR Codes. Security Experts Think It's a Bad Idea

By Tami Abdollah, dot.LA, October 22, 2020

Excerpts:

After $300-million and 11 years, the nation's largest county rolled out the first publicly-owned voting system earlier this year, promising "transparency, accessibility, usability, and security."

Los Angeles County's new voting system — dubbed "Voting Solutions for All People," or VSAP — has raised concerns from election security experts. Dozens of advocacy groups have warned California's top election official that the electronic touchscreen system used for in-person voting relies on QR codes to tabulate votes. QR codes are vulnerable to hackers and system malfunctions and cannot be easily verified by most voters, U.S. government and outside experts have found.

LA County early-voting places open Saturday: Here’s what to know

By David Rosenfeld, The Daily Breeze, October 22, 2020

Excerpts:

Early voting in-person begins in Los Angeles County Saturday morning, Oct. 24, at more than 100 polling places with an additional 650 to open Oct. 30 and running up until Election Day.

Voters can cast ballots at any one of the 766 Vote Centers throughout the county, regardless of where they are registered. Voters can also register or re-register a change of address at any Vote Center up until Election Day. And they can also drop off ballots.

Every active voter in Los Angeles County — roughly 5.6 million — has by now received a mail-in ballot. Voters can drop those ballots in the mail postmarked by Election Day or into any of the more than 400 official drop boxes throughout the county no matter where they are registered to vote.

Here’s why election officials say no need to hand deliver mail ballot

By Lewis Griswold, CAL Matters, October 21, 2020

Excerpts:

Nervous voters in California are walking their mail-in ballots into elections departments so they can personally hand them to an election official.

They want to be 100 percent certain their ballot gets counted.

“It feels like every voter I talk to is on edge thinking for some reason their ballot might not count,” said Melinda Dubroff, registrar of voters in San Joaquin County.

Every qualified ballot will be counted and there’s really no need to worry once a ballot is mailed or placed in an official drop box, elections officials say. The state’s safety protocol for drop boxes is rigorous.

But voters have reason for anxiety.

As Voters Turn Out in Record Numbers, We Take Your Voting Questions

By Mina Kim, KQED, October 21, 2020

Excerpts:

More than 33 million Americans have already voted as of Tuesday -- roughly 70% of total 2016 early voting. On Monday, the Supreme Court denied a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to shorten the deadlines for mail-in ballots in the state. We’ll get the national picture on voting from NPR’s Miles Parks and hear how voting systems are handling the record turnout. Then, president and founder of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation Kim Alexander joins Forum to take your questions on voting. We’ll cover topics like locating and using official ballot drop boxes, voting in-person after applying to vote by mail and correcting a mistake on your ballot. (Full Audio)

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