California Secretary of State Alex Padilla spoke to reporters Wednesday about voting access and safety this year during the pandemic.
“To say this is an unprecedented year” with the political climate and the pandemic “would be an understatement,” said Padilla, who is the state’s chief elections officer.
The Nov. 3 presidential election is approaching and is less than eight weeks away. Padilla described the date as “the last day to vote,” and stressed voting by mail.
He said voting by mail is the safest choice.
Every registered voter will get a ballot in the mail if their address on file is correct. Vote-by-mail ballots will be sent out during the first week of October.
The last day for mailing out ballots to voters is Oct. 5, but for military and overseas voters, ballots are mailed out 45 days in advance.
New this year is a notification system that allows voters to get a text, email or call telling them where in the process their ballot is, such as when it has been received and when it has been counted.
More than 900,000 voters have signed up, but there are 21 million registered voters in California. To sign up for Where’s My Ballot, people can go to https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/.
In-person voting will still be available this year, but it’s going to be different, according to Padilla.
There will be masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing, he said. In-person voting might be necessary if a person lost their ballot or made a mistake on the one they received.
Padilla said some polling locations have changed because of the pandemic. Some may have needed to be larger, and in larger cities some organizations are making their large facilities available.
In the Bay Area, the Chase Center in San Francisco and the Oakland Coliseum will be places to vote.
Voters can drop off their ballot at a polling location or in a dropbox.
The last day to register to vote is Oct. 19, but state law allows for same-day registration in case someone misses the deadline for registering online or updating their registration.
“We also recommend you vote early,” he said.
To protect against fraud in the vote-by-mail process, Padilla said the state has several protections in place.
Watermarks on the ballots are unique to each election. Companies that print the ballots must be certified by the state.
Return envelopes have unique barcodes and ballots are scanned to make sure people didn’t vote somewhere else. Also, each signature is checked.
I’m voting in person and will show my ID.
I will be voting in person.
I seriously doubt the integrity of our Secretary of State, or the integrity of local election officials. “Vote harvesting” and other corrupt practices will once again be used to thwart the will of actual living and legal voters.
Perhaps we could ask the EU to oversee our elections, since we resemble a 3rd World Nation.
Chuckle, could you provide any sources for your conclusions? I would be interested in reading them. Thank you.
No he cant.
Look at his name. At least with him , he is up front about his nonsense. The other far right misinformation pushing purposefully ignorant posters actually believe their nonsense….that is the scary part.
The state unemployment department is mailing out checks none of them addressed to the right person. Some people get a hundred checks a day but none of the checks are for them. Now they are going to mail out ballots to everyone and many of you think it is just swell. Hard to believe. I don’t think the hiring standards are high enough any more.
Nonsense.
@Ricardoh~Excellent example of the efficiency of our government entity at work! I, too, will be voting in person.
Been voting absentee for the last 7 years or so. I don’t see any reason to change now. I’ll just take mine to the county dropoff point instead of trusting the postal service this year. The big T won’t be stealing my vote if I can help it.
Amen!
@Anon There’s so much more to be mad about SINCE 2016. And, yes, I do want Kamala Harris running the country. She’s why I’m actually almost happy to vote this election. I don’t have issues with liberals or socialism– maybe because I am one 😉
The only fraud in recent elections has been on the other side of the political aisle. Bush v. Gore, the foreign intervention in the last presidential election… Any more than that and I’ll probably get censored again LOL
@lizzee is a socialist. Do you know the definition of “liberal”? Do you know the definition of “socialist”? From your posts, you sound confused on the meaning of political classifications. Everyone is playing games with words lately. You are either a statist or a conservative. You are for more state control or you are for freedom and liberty. Don’t try and confuse real liberals with socialists. We are not the same. This is exactly why I’m voting for Trump.
“And, yes, I do want Kamala Harris running the country.”
Yeah, that’ll be great. Shall we start tracking her lies now, or actually wait until Biden steps (falls) down?
And Harris the Hoe pushed the hardest to keep Kavanaugh from being appointed to SCOTUS, claim “Blakey Ford must be believed” because she’s a female…. yet Biden’s (female) victim is not being believed…
And you talk about Harris “running the country…”? Since when was she running for president?
Biden and Harris- that’s the best the Democrats have to offer. Obvious you’re a millennial who can’t see the socialist writing on the wall. Learn from history, snowflake.
You have to be very young to applaud socialism and not be aware of the death and destruction it leaves in its wake. Donald Trump is the only one standing in the way of socialists, anarchists and leftists whose ideology will ruin our country. Years ago the two Party system just meant we went about getting to the same place differently. Today it literally means the survival of our Constitution or the death of it. Please educate yourself about that major issue and make your decision exclusive of an emotional response to our President’s “personality.”
SGV: I agree with you if you mean being older we were not indoctrinated by the propaganda now taught in schools. For example, the US Government book (by Glencoe) now used to teach students about political systems has in the first chapter a 9 paragraph explanation of capitalism, but a 17 paragraph explanation of communism and socialism. Isn’t that nice. In later chapters it says it is because of pressure from capitalist countries that socialism cannot more easier prosper in other countries. Gee, it seems it is capitalism’s fault the socialism has issues. We are so mean.
Make sure to vote before the debates! Allow 13 days after the election for several recounts……….Trust us, we know what’s good for you.
I requested my absentee ballot from usvotefoundation.org a month ago and will be dropping off my ballot at the post office.
BTW – unemployment department sends out debit cards not checks. Why anyone would make a comment that some people get a hundred checks a day but none of the checks are for them and expect a reader to believe that statement to be truthful is crazy.
Sorry you are so misinformed. Look it up yourself. Check or debit card what difference does it make? That is not the point of the story.
@Baloo~It was all over the news yesterday about this…great to know some of us don’t watch the news! Take a look for yourself..
https://www.ktvu.com/news/edd-sends-laid-off-bus-driver-waiting-for-unemployment-check-97-letters-that-werent-hers
I haven’t been in a voting booth since 1980. I’ve been voting by mail (absentee). I certainly hope my votes have been counted, but who really knows.
“Certified by the state”
That really gives me confidence lmao.
This state is EXTREMELY incompetent. Anything certified by California is certified by a bunch government employees that couldn’t cut it in the private industry.
@L0L
This state is far more competent than most and has guarded the right of all qualified citizens to vote.
Were you unable to get a job with the state government?
Anon2 says that CA has “guarded the right of all qualified citizens…”
Except for allowing illegal aliens to vote.
Except for not requiring ID to vote.
Keep drinking your kool-aid, snowflake.
The article says, “The last day to register to vote is Oct. 19, but state law allows for same-day registration in case someone misses the deadline for registering online or updating their registration.”, which means the last day to register is Nov. 3.
BTW, you can check your voting record with CoCoCo here: https://www.cocovote.us/registration-and-voting-options/my-voting-information/#VoterLookupandSampleBallotSearch
Same stuff, another election. Nothing has changed. In person, mail it in or drop it off. Let’s make a story about nothing.
The steeling of votes is by unions, special interests groups and big money that write proposition language, flood the voters with scare messages (e.g. Vote No or food will be taken from staving school kids) and fund the politicians that will do what benefits them.
It’s all pretty disgusting.
I believe that Greg Palast said he wouldn’t trust Alex Padilla as far as he could throw him, in regards to California elections. I did check on the website if my Primary mail-in ballot was counted which it was. Rather than mailing it in I drop off my ballot at the elections office since I’m usually in downtown Martinez once a week. They have a ballot box outside the office.
I am willing to crawl over broken glass to vote. I will vote even if I have to go full hazmat. Fortunately, it won’t be that difficult.
They wont let you attend a game at Oracle or Staples Center, but they’ll let you vote.
Think about that
I’m thinking that voting is more important, @bob.
Is this your first attempt at critical thinking? Keep trying.
LBJ’s first nickname was Landslide Lyndon. He lost his first election. On the recount they found some “missing” ballot boxes that were just enough votes for him to win. He never lost an election after that.
Just read about a man in New Jersey that has been stuffing ballots for 30 years for local, state and national elections. Someone said why isn’t he in jail? You don’t go to jail when your side wins.
I’m scheduled to work at a polling place-site yet unknown. But I plan to use my lunch break to vote at my own polling place in person.
Which would you prefer “United States of America. or United Socialists of America?”
@Yogurt….You really need to get back on your TDS meds. That vein in your head will burst, much like Sleepy Joe’s aneurysm.