California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference on Monday to reassure voters that mailed ballots are not going to be impacted by recent actions from the Trump administration.
“I know some Californians may be wondering whether everything coming out of Washington has changed how they can vote,” Bonta said. “And the answer is no. It is business as usual.”
The remarks come in spite of attempts from the Trump administration to curtail the practice and enforce new restrictions on mail voting that have been successfully challenged in court.
“When President Donald Trump tried to impose sweeping voting restrictions like requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, we sued, and we won,” Bonta said. “When the Trump administration sued California for our voter rolls, a federal judge rejected the government's demand for what the court called an unprecedented amount of personal information it was seeking on nearly 23 million Californians.”
Bonta also sued the administration over plans to change how the U.S. Postal Service handles mailed ballots — a case the Supreme Court decided in September, ruling against the administration.
The Attorney General condemned what he said are attempts by the administration to intimidate voters or discourage turnout by sending federal authorities to monitor polling places.
“During the last two elections, when the federal government deployed election monitors, we responded by sending our own election observers to ensure that voters felt safe, that the law was followed, and that no one was discouraged from casting a ballot,” Bonta said. “We're ready to do that again if necessary.”
Bonta also addressed the concern that immigration officers would be present at polling locations, a top concern for voters in a recent UCSD survey on election trust. In the survey, 40% of respondents said they expected federal immigration officers to show up at polling places on Election Day.
“I also want to address something I know is on people's minds,” Bonta said. “There's no role for immigration enforcement at the polls. No role. It's a crime to send armed federal law enforcement, including ICE, to polling places. The federal law prohibits that right now.”
But Bonta did urge voters who plan to mail their ballots to do so early to make sure it arrives on time to be counted. In California, mailed ballots are allowed to arrive as late as seven business days after Election Day.
In June of this year, the Supreme Court upheld the practice of accepting mail ballots past Election Day in Mississippi, where ballots that are received five days after Election Day are counted.
University of San Diego Professor Maimon Schwarzschild, who authored a review of the Mississippi case for USD Law School’s Blue Brief, said the court held that Congress is responsible for setting deadlines for accepting mailed ballots, and they haven’t done so — yet.
Schwarzschild said the question of fraud and election integrity is a very real concern. But he said that the country should be able to overcome those fears without impacting the right to vote.
“This is America, and the idea that it is beyond the wit of humankind to create a situation where it is easy for legitimate voters to vote and easy to detect fraud and election misconduct — that is not beyond the wit of Americans,” Schwarzschild said.
The attorney general’s office is also urging voters to review their rights in the California Voter Bill of Rights.
Ballots have been mailed out, and election drop boxes are open throughout the County. You can learn more about local and statewide races at the KPBS Voter Hub.
