California moves to protect voters with mail-in ballots; Trump critical of vote centers

Every registered California voter will receive a mail-in ballot this November, according to an executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday.

The executive order does not replace in-person voting, Newsom said, and the state will open as many voting centers as possible for the November general election. The move drew a response from the Republican National Committee, which said that it is weighing its options.

Newsom’s order comes after the governor received a letter from two lawmakers — Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, and Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Garden Grove — calling on him to take executive action while they attempt to get a package of bills, which would codify the order in California law, passed through the Legislature.

Those bills include one that would require all registered voters receive a mail-in ballot, and another that would mandate that county elections officials open and maintain a minimum number of polling places and voting centers, where people can get assistance with voting if they need it.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla was on hand for Newsom’s Friday announcement. He called vote-by-mail the safest way to vote.

“It’s great for public health. It’s great for voting rights. It’s going to be great for public participation,” he said.

Padilla reiterated Newsom’s commitment to making in-person voting as accessible as possible, but warned that there is a shortage of poll workers, as traditional volunteers, often older Californians, fall into the high-risk category. Padilla said there will be a need for healthy volunteers for the coming election.

The Republican National Committee issued a statement questioning the decision.

“While we have always supported absentee voting, California is a case study in why automatically sending this many ballots is a problem,” spokesman Michael Ahrens wrote. ”Just last year, a court found that LA county had 1.5 million ineligible voters on their registration lists, meaning there were 112 percent more registered voters than adults living in the county. We are weighing our legal options to ensure the integrity of the election.”

The move to statewide mail-in ballots also is opposed by some groups, including the Election Integrity Project California, which argues that state voter rolls need to be trimmed.

The group published findings on March 26 that 13 California counties have more registered voters than eligible citizens, with more than one million ineligible registrants, according to the group.

“One million ineligible registrants allowed to vote opens doors to election crime in the upcoming 2020 election, especially if they’re mailed ballots,” said the group’s president, Linda Paine. “California needs to take immediate action to correct its bloated voter lists.”

President Donald Trump has claimed in the past that he lost the state of California in the 2016 presidential election because of unspecified voter fraud. The Sacramento Bee found that claim to be false. In an April Tweet, he said “100% Mail-In Voting” is “RIPE for FRAUD,” and shouldn’t be allowed!”

Trump continued his invective against California’s decision Saturday morning, sending out a flurry of tweets aimed at Newsom.

Despite his well-documented stance against mail-in ballots, Trump criticized California Democrats mainly over an in-person voting center in Southern California.

“So in California, the Democrats, who fought like crazy to get all mail in only ballots, and succeeded, have just opened a voting booth in the most Democrat area in the State,” the president wrote. “They are trying to steal another election. It’s all rigged out there. These votes must not count. SCAM!”

Trump was likely alluding to a voting center in Lancaster that city officials said on Friday would be available for voters for the second week of voting in Tuesday’s special election for the 25th Congressional District.

In a news release announcing the new voting center, Los Angeles County officials urged residents to use vote-by-mail ballots “in the safety of their own home.”

Trump followed up his tweet with several more promoting Republican congressional candidate Mike Garcia. He suggested that the election was rigged against Garcia, who is running to replace resigned Rep. Katie Hill.

Garcia himself took to social media to lambast his Democratic rival Christy Smith, a state Assemblywoman, and criticize the state Democrats.

“Even after every voter received a ballot, they are desperate and trying to change the rules to steal an election,” Garcia said on Twitter.

Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, greeted Newsom’s announcement as a positive first step.

“Voting by mail will play a crucial role in protecting Californians’ right to vote, but it can’t do the job alone. The state must ensure that voters who need to vote in person have enough safe polling places to cast their ballots without risking their health,” said the Brennan Center’s Raúl Macías. “By offering both options for all, California can be a national leader in protecting our democracy from the coronavirus.”

Macías said that voting by mail is “a proven safe and secure option used by millions of voters for decades in the United States.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 1:00 PM.