Though it may be hard to imagine now, sometime in the not distant future, the emergency measures adopted this year to control the spread of COVID-19 will no longer be necessary. But California would benefit by keeping at least one of them in place for good: mailing a ballot to every active registered voter in the state.
When it became clear this spring that the pandemic was not likely to end before the Nov. 3 election, lawmakers acted to ensure that all active registered voters in California could participate without risking infection. Counties were directed to mail ballots to all voters, whether they requested one or not, and, with an onslaught of mail ballots expected, were allowed to start processing ballots extra early. The state also extended the grace period for mailed-in ballots to 17 days.
It was a wise move that paid off. By all measures, the Nov. 3 election in California was held successfully, despite all the wild-eyed stories and false tales of mail ballot fraud spread by the president and his loyalists. (In the end, the only potential large-scale voting fraud in California was perpetrated by the California Republican Party, which set up dozens of phony ballot drop boxes in violation of state law. )
Nearly 18 million Californians voted in this election, more than ever before. So many Californians voted early — motivated, perhaps, by the stories about possible mail delivery delays — that election day was relatively calm, with only a few long lines reported around the state. This is exactly how every election should go, pandemic or not. Why backtrack now?
That’s what Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), chairman of the Assembly Elections Committee, thinks too. He has proposed legislation to require counties to automatically send mail ballots to all active registered voters (some already do) and to offer tracking services so voters can make sure their ballots are received. This wouldn’t end in-person voting for those who need assistance or enjoy casting their ballot in the company of others, but it would let voters easily choose how and where they vote.
This change would only hasten a trend well underway in California. In the last four statewide general elections, most voters used mail ballots. Even without the emergency legislation this year, about 75% of the state’s voters would have been mailed a ballot, and about 90% of registered voters would be receiving a mail ballot in future elections, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
It just makes sense to standardize this clearly popular voting choice.
While we’re making an election reform wish list, Congress should use its authority over the “times, places and manner” of federal elections to standardize procedures for collecting and processing mail ballots. Ideally, those standards would look like those in California, where officials have gone out of their way to make voting easier and smoother — and are still looking for ways to do it better.
