Universal Voting by Mail Is Now Permanent in This State

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Tipsheet

 

California has become the eighth state to require a ballot mailed to every registered, active voter—a move away from traditional in-person voting on a single day—after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 37 on Monday.

“Last year we took unprecedented steps to ensure all voters had the opportunity to cast a ballot during the pandemic and today we are making those measures permanent after record-breaking participation in the 2020 presidential election,” Newsom said in a statement about the law, which will go into effect in January. 

California’s new law will require ballots to be mailed to all voters for statewide elections in June and November. AB 37 also applies to local elections, potentially improving turnout in community contests but also increasing costs, given that vote-by-mail ballots are provided with prepaid postage.  

The idea of universal mailed ballots has been discussed by state officials and voting rights activists for years, but it’s unclear whether the effort would have succeeded if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.Read entire article and see tweets here.