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With 29 days and counting until the Nov. 3 election, many Californians are getting their ballots in the mail this week. There are some 21 million registered voters in California, and every one of them will be getting a vote-by-mail ballot. 

In this election, how you vote may be just as important as who you vote for. A new study by the non-partisan California Voter Foundation found that on average, nearly 2% of all vote-by-mail ballots in California are rejected and that amounts to tens of thousands of voters.

The CVF has even introduced a song to get people to participate in the voting process. 

California Voter Foundation President and Founder Kim Alexander told KCRA 3 her organization wants to make sure that everyone’s vote counts. 

We spoke with Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, about the errors to avoid when filling out your ballot so that you can get your vote on its way to being counted.

And if the news of the president's COVID-19 diagnosis has you wondering about how this will impact the election in general? The honest answer is that nobody quite knows right now. But one thing Alexander wants you to know: giving yourself a deadline for when you want to mail your ballot and working backwards with a plan for when to do your homework and actually fill out your ballot will help. "Your plan may shift, but in times of uncertainty it’s good to have a game plan," she says. Reading this is a great start.

Plan to Send Your Ballot on Time

Before we even talk about what's on the ballot itself, you need to know this: The #1 reason that ballots get disqualified in California is because they aren't mailed on time.

Things are different and there are questions. We're answering them live. 

The next election is speeding toward us on a runaway train of rhetoric, doubt, and deterrents. 

We have some facts, instead.

Election Day is technically November 3, but early voting starts soon after October 5 when ballots begin shipping out to every active, registered voter in California. 

In L.A., we'll be voting on: the next president of the United States, the head of the largest prosecutor's office in the country, affirmative action, a possible rollback of California Proposition 13, and much more. 

Pressure is high. But it's 2020, so the intensity doesn't end there. The actual process of voting is also different.

You'll be doing it possibly by mail, or at a new vote center, in the time of a historic pandemic, in the midst of a fury over racial inequity and police brutality, while the Golden State burns in the orange glow of climate change. 

One of the biggest challenges facing the election this year is simply the process. For the first time ever, all California voters will receive a ballot in the mail. Some voters are concerned their vote may not be counted. On top of that, voters are hungry for trustworthy information about candidates and issues. We take your questions about voting this year with Kim Alexander, president and founder of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. (Full Audio)