CVF in the News

Mail-voting fraud? That’s not what keeps election officials up at night

By John Wilkens, The San Diego Union-Tribune, August 23, 2020

Excerpts:

When it comes to mail ballots, it’s not fraud that vexes election officials. It’s human nature.

People procrastinate.

That’s a problem as California prepares amid the COVID-19 pandemic to mail a ballot to every registered voter in the state for November’s presidential election.

The ballots go out the week of Oct. 5 and have to be returned by Election Day, Nov. 3. Some people who wait until the last minute think that means they’re OK if they put it in a mailbox on that date. But that’s not the rule.

Ballots have to be postmarked by Election Day, and they have to arrive no later than 17 days after that date at the county Registrar of Voters office or they won’t get counted.

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Mail-in Ballots: 3 Things to Know

My58/KCRA News, August 6, 2020

Navigating 2020's Turbulent Election Season

By Keith Menconi KCBS Radio August 6, 2020

Description

With no end in sight for the Covid-19 pandemic, the November elections are shaping up to be an unprecedented test of the nation’s voting system. So, on this edition of KCBS In Depth, as election officials surge vote by mail systems and harden polling places, we take a closer look at the effort to create a socially distanced election. Then in the second half we speak with a longtime election reform advocate about what voters need to know to make sure their votes do indeed get counted this fall.

Guests:

Nate Persily, a Stanford law professor, who earlier this year helped launch the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project

Kim Alexander, the president of the California Voter Foundation

Host: Keith Menconi

(Full Audio)

State: California voters can 'absolutely trust' mail-in voting system

By Stephanie Lin, KCRA, August 5, 2020

Excerpts:

California is moving forward with plans to distribute millions of mail-in ballots to registered voters for the November election, despite continued political assaults by President Donald Trump claiming the process is unsafe.

KCRA 3 brought the allegations to Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who oversees election administration in California.

"Voters can absolutely trust the vote-by-mail system we have in California," said Padilla. "It's sad, frankly, that Trump continues to attack vote-by-mail and confidence in our elections more broadly."

Technology Works Behind the Scenes to Keep US Mail-in Voting Secure

By Michelle Quinn, Voice of America, July 27, 2020

Excerpts:

It’s going to be a record year for voting by mail in the U.S. election and that has raised security concerns about each step of the process.

But election officials say they have systems in place to make voting by mail a success even as health concerns about voting during the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing states to expand their current vote-by-mail options.

“Somewhere between 90 million and 105 million ballots might come through the mail,” said Eddie Perez, global director of technology development at the OSET Institute, a nonprofit election technology organization. “If what we're seeing in other primary elections is any guide, it's probably safe to estimate that somewhere between 65% and 75% of all ballots cast in the November election might come by mail.”

The 100-day countdown

By Foon Rhee, Sacramento News & Review, July 27, 2020

Excerpts:

It’s now less than 100 days to the Nov. 3 election, and for it to go off smoothly, mail balloting must absolutely succeed.

Millions more voters across America will be casting mail ballots in 2020 than in 2016 so they can avoid crowded polling places during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a new state law, every registered voter in California will receive a mail ballot, with postage prepaid.

So on Monday, the state’s chief elections officer launched a Vote Safe California campaign to urge residents to make sure they’re registered by the Oct. 19 deadline, and then to vote by mail or vote in person before Election Day.

With U.S. Postal Service on the Ropes, Is Vote-by-Mail Safe?

By Wilson Walker, KPIX, July 24, 2020

Wilson Walker takes a look at the potential collision course between the disintegrating capabilities of the post office and an inevitable influx of vote-by-mail ballots in the November election.

Watch: How To Prepare To Vote-By-Mail In California This Election

By Chris Nichols, CapRadio, July 24, 2020

Excerpts:

There are more than 100 days until Election Day. But with major changes ahead for how Californians will vote and a lot of misinformation floating around, elections expert Kim Alexander believes people should get prepared now.

That’s because by early October all counties will be required to send vote-by-mail ballots to the state’s 20 million active registered voters. And, Alexander said, elections officials will finalize mailing addresses as early as Labor Day.

More Than 100,000 Mail-In Ballots Were Rejected in CA Primary

By KQED News Staff, KQED, July 15, 2020

More than 100,000 mail-in ballots sent in by Californian voters in the March presidential primary were rejected. This news comes as California moves forward with plans to send mail in ballots to every voter in the state to use in the November election because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Guest: Kim Alexander, President, California Voter Foundation

(last segment in this podcast, about 8 minutes in) (Full Audio)

San Francisco’s big mail-ballot problem: Too many voters send them in late

By John Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, July 15, 2020

Excerpts:

San Francisco voters were the second-worst in the state when it came to turning in their mail ballots on time for the March primary election.

More than 9,100 city voters saw their ballots go uncounted either because they weren’t postmarked by the March 3 election day or didn’t arrive in the mail by the March 6 deadline, according to a new study by the California secretary of state.

Statewide, late ballots counted for more than 70% of rejected mail-in votes.

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“If a ballot comes in late, you just can’t accept it,” Artnz said. “That’s why our message in the fall will tell people that if it’s close to election day, don’t use the mailbox, but turn the ballot in at one of our 588 polling places spread across the city.”

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