Tipsheet

Universal Voting by Mail Is Now Permanent in This State

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 28, 2021 8:00 AM

California has become the eighth state to require a ballot mailed to every registered, active voter—a move away from traditional in-person voting on a single day—after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 37 on Monday.

“Last year we took unprecedented steps to ensure all voters had the opportunity to cast a ballot during the pandemic and today we are making those measures permanent after record-breaking participation in the 2020 presidential election,” Newsom said in a statement about the law, which will go into effect in January. 

California’s new law will require ballots to be mailed to all voters for statewide elections in June and November. AB 37 also applies to local elections, potentially improving turnout in community contests but also increasing costs, given that vote-by-mail ballots are provided with prepaid postage.

The idea of universal mailed ballots has been discussed by state officials and voting rights activists for years, but it’s unclear whether the effort would have succeeded if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid public health concerns about in-person voting, Newsom and lawmakers took temporary action to mail ballots to more than 22 million voters last fall — an election with voter turnout at levels not seen in California for a half-century or more. […]

The new law largely follows the lead of other states that mail every voter a ballot. But no other state’s effort comes close in size or scope. California has more registered voters than the combined totals in several other states, an electorate that has grown steadily after the enactment of laws that automate registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles and allow eligible Californians to fill out registration forms as late as election day. (LA Times)

Republicans criticized the new law for weakening the security of the electoral system.