Half of the Democrats on California presidential ballots dropped out. Can you get a do-over?
Half of the Democratic presidential candidates on California’s primary ballot have already dropped out.
One-time A-list candidates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar left the race just days ahead of this week’s election, meaning that thousands of Californians who supported them might have regrets because they cannot change their votes for Tuesday’s primary.
Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, who also invested heavily in California, quit the race on Saturday night.
Turnout information from Political Data Inc. shows nearly 1.8 million Democratic ballots have been returned since early voting began on Feb. 3, though that number is likely much higher since it doesn’t reflect the ballots sent over the weekend that remain in transit or unopened.
The other candidates who exited but remain on the California ballot include Cory Booker, Marianne Williamson and John Delaney, who left the race before early voting began on Feb. 3. Andrew Yang, Michael Bennet and Deval Patrick ended their presidential bids after early voting began in California. Joe Sestak failed to complete the necessary withdrawal paperwork by the Dec. 26 deadline.
While the supporters of these 10 candidates are not allowed to get a do-over and request a new ballot once they’ve submitted it, it’s not too late for the millions of Californians who have yet to complete and return their ballot.
Even if a ballot has already been filled out, California elections rules allow people to get a new ballot as long as they haven’t yet submitted it. The Secretary of State’s Office encourages people to take that ballot with them to a polling place and surrender it for a new one.
“A vote-by-mail ballot is considered cast once it is mailed to or dropped off with an elections official, or dropped off at a polling location or drop box,” the office wrote on Twitter.
Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project at the University of Southern California, said the votes already cast for the 10 dropped out candidates could influence the final outcome of the California primary in two ways: They could give Joe Biden extra strength if moderate voters coalesce around his candidacy and they could force Biden, Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren to tangle even more to try to secure delegates.
An Emerson College poll released on Monday found Sanders with 38 percent support in California, followed by Biden at 21 percent, Warren at 16 percent and Bloomberg at 11 percent. Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Steyer, who have all dropped out since Saturday, captured a combined 14 percent of the vote.
She said California’s decision to bump up its primary from June to March may have influence the candidates’ decision to drop out, thus resulting in frustration from their supporters.
“This is what happens when you move your primary up to Super Tuesday,” Romero said. “That’s not a negative or a positive. That’s just a reality. When you’re in the Super Tuesday mix, things are very much influx coming off of those first four states.”
Some states have allowed people to change their votes, though California isn’t one of them. While there could be discussion surrounding the issue after California certifies its results by April 10, Romero doesn’t expect California to create a new law giving people a second change to cast their vote.
“I can’t imagine any scenario where voters would be allowed to redo their ballots in the future,” Romero said. “That’s a slippery slope. Where do you draw the line. There might be a revisiting of the deadlines for when you can withdraw your names off of the ballot and some real conversations around that.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 1:06 PM.