Bernie Sanders criticizes California’s voting system: ‘We risk locking out millions’

Bernie Sanders is increasingly concerned about the lack of turnout so far among California independents, and his campaign is pinning blame on state leaders for enacting what they believe is a confusing process for no party preference voters.

“Here in California, voting has already started and there is a concern that many Californians do not have all of the information they need to participate in the presidential primary,” Sanders said.

He visited Santa Ana on Friday morning to express his frustration with the voting process and encourage no party preference voters to immediately request a Democratic ballot.

About 1.6 million ballots have been cast so far for the March 3 primary. Of those, 326,000 ballots came from voters not registered with the Democratic or Republican parties.

California’s roughly 5.5 million no party preference voters are the second largest voting bloc in the state and outnumber Republicans.

Under rules set by the state parties and carried out by elections officials, people registered without a party preference can only vote in the Democratic primary if they request a Democratic ballot. Those registered with the American Independent Party would need to switch their party registration altogether to vote in the partisan primary of their choosing.

“Unfortunately, under the current NPP participation rules, we risk locking out millions of young people, millions of young people of color, and many, many other people who wanted to participate in the Democratic primary but may find it impossible for them to do so, and that seems, to me, to be very, very wrong.”

Of biggest concern to the Sanders campaign is the fact that just one in 10 voters registered with no party preference voters have requested a Democratic ballots, according to data from Political Data Inc., a voter data firm managed by political consultant Paul Mitchell.

Sanders is an independent Vermont senator who caucuses with the Democratic Party and has aggressively sought out the backing of voters who don’t consider themselves loyal to the national party.

His campaign has held three news conferences this year, including one in Cantonese and one in Sacramento, to inform independents on how to cast a Democratic ballot. The Friday event in Santa Ana was the first one Sanders personally appeared at, signaling the struggles his campaign has had in conveying their message.

“I’ve never seen a presidential candidate talking about the mechanics of obtaining a ballot before,” Mitchell said. “This has got to be a massive concern, otherwise you wouldn’t have a candidate for president already focusing on California. In most conversations, this would be considered the minutia of political campaigns. But in this case, it’s a big deal.”

In a post on Capitol Weekly, Mitchell said the confusion among independents looking to vote Democratic is likeliest to hurt Sanders and Michael Bloomberg. Mitchell also noted that 81 percent of independents considered “likely voters” want to vote in the March 3 primary. Two-thirds of all independents would like to cast a ballot on the Democratic side, he added.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla was asked to participate in the news conference but declined the invitation, according to Sanders’ campaign.

“Secretary Padilla was invited at the last minute to participate in today’s press conference, but was unable to attend due to prior commitments,” said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Padilla. “Nonetheless, the Secretary of State’s office is here to help any campaign understand elections policies and procedures and provide guidance as necessary.”

County elections officials have sent out postcards to independents to try to inform them of the complex process. Padilla himself has also hosted news conferences, done television interviews and has had his office work hard to get the information to voters by email and through its social media channels.

Mahood noted Padilla has also launched a “How to Vote for President” website and worked to “streamline the process for changing party preference at a voting location.”

Independents who vote by mail and don’t return postcards will be mailed a ballot without any presidential candidates. Once a ballot is returned, it cannot be taken back. No party preference voters must contact their county elections office or visit a local vote center or polling site in person to get a new ballot.

Californians can check their voter registration status, including political party, by visiting voterstatus.sos.ca.gov or by calling California’s voter hotline at 1-800-345-VOTE.

Mail ballots can be requested until Feb. 25 and must be postmarked no later than March 3. People can also show up to a polling site in person on Election Day to change or update their registration.

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 12:46 PM.