Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that one in four votes was cast by mail in 2018, a practice that’s been on the rise steadily since 1996.

One expert at Loyola Law School who has studied the mail-in process between 2000 and 2014 has found just 31 instances of voter fraud over a period when more than one billion votes were cast.

Kim Alexander, the founder and president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, spoke to Sonseeahray about the mail-in situation in the Golden State

Excerpts:

Come November, every California voter will likely have the option of voting by mail.

To Democrats that seems like a no-brainer, given the pandemic. But to some Republicans it's a recipe for a "rigged election."

Last month, when Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered that all registered voters in California be sent a mail-in ballot for the November election, President Donald Trump was immediately tweeting — and questioning the validity of that process.

"They send out, like in California, millions and millions of ballots to anybody that’s breathing," Trump said during a White House event.

Trump continued: "So when he sends out 28 million ballots and they’re in all the mailboxes and kids go and they raid the mailboxes and they hand them to people who are signing the ballots at end of the streets, which is happening."

The November election is just five months away, yet there is still uncertainty about how Californians will be voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Counties and voters need guidance now, before we run out of time to make necessary changes to have a safe and secure election. The longer we wait, the more room for error and confusion. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing counties to mail every registered voter a ballot, which has now been challenged with lawsuits, leaving the final determination in legal limbo.
Voters should be assured  they need not choose between their health and democracy. In California, anyone can request a ballot be sent to them through the mail. Nearly three-fourths of primary voters in March cast vote-by-mail ballots, returned by mail or in person to a drop box or voting location

Excerpts:

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new executive order Friday requiring all counties to provide mail-in ballots to California's 20.6 million registered voters due to concerns about the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"[We want] to make sure we are reaching out to all registered and eligible voters and giving them the opportunity and the choice so they don't have to feel like they have to go into a concentrated, dense environment, where their health may be at risk," Newsom said. 

Here are three things you need to know about the new executive order:

1) First in the nation

California is now the first state in the U.S. to provide absentee ballots to all registered voters as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.