Voting Access and Safety during the Pandemic: Is California ready?

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

The Golden State has pledged to make mail-in ballots available for all voters and to be ready to receive the influx, as well as to make in-person voting available for those who want to use it. Is California ready to ensure that all communities get a chance to vote in a safe manner, guarantee access to special needs and seniors as well as immigrant and first time voters? This imperative topic was discussed at the EMS Sep 9 videoconference with Alex Padilla, California Secretary of State.

“To say this is an unprecedented year” with the political climate and the pandemic “would be an understatement,” said Padilla. The Nov. 3 presidential election is approaching and is less than eight weeks away. Padilla described the date as “the last day to vote,” and stressed voting by mail. He said voting by mail is the safest choice.

Every registered voter will get a ballot in the mail if their address on file is correct. Vote-by-mail ballots will be sent out during the first week of October. The last day for mailing out ballots to voters is Oct. 5, but for military and overseas voters, ballots are mailed out 45 days in advance.

New this year is a notification system that allows voters to get a text, email or call telling them where in the process their ballot is, such as when it has been received and when it has been counted. The system is called Where’s My Ballot and it is meant to build trust in the voting process, Padilla said. More than 900,000 voters have signed up, but there are 21 million registered voters in California. To sign up for Where’s My Ballot, people can go to california.ballottrax.net/voter/.

Padilla encouraged citizens to register to vote as soon as possible. For those already registered, he advised voters to verify their registration status. “If you’ve recently turned 18, recently become a US Citizen, or even if you’ve never voted before — don’t wait,” Padilla said. “It only takes a few minutes to register and to make your voice is heard in one of the most consequential elections in our nation’s history.”

In-person voting will still be available this year, but it’s going to be different, according to Padilla. There will be masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing, he said. In-person voting might be necessary if a person lost their ballot or made a mistake on the one they received.

The last day to register to vote is Oct. 19, but state law allows for same-day registration in case someone misses the deadline for registering online or updating their registration.