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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."

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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.

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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. 

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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.”