MAKE MAILING EACH VOTER A BALLOT THE NORM

Voting experts will tell you there are two big reasons that turnout in this year’s presidential election was the highest in more than a century. The first is that the pandemic, the social justice movement and the strong feelings provoked across the political spectrum by President Donald Trump made the stakes feel very high to many people. The second is that most states encouraged absentee voting to avoid the health risks of in-person voting, with California and three other states deciding for the first time to mail all their voters absentee ballots.

A record 160 million votes cast included at least 100 million turned in before Election Day — which was 40 million more early votes than in 2016. And contrary to Trump’s repeated warnings that mail voting (which he did!) was subject to massive fraud, there remains no evidence of that. Trump’s lawyer,

Rudy Giuliani, and his enablers have made unfounded, breathless allegations about stolen votes.

But what matters is what can be proven in court, where the president’s record is dismal. They have nothing that could change this fair, secure election.

All of this is why California should always mail every registered voter a ballot — and Congress should consider a federal law requiring it. Voting is a participatory act that makes people more vested in government and in the greater good. Encouraging voting is highly constructive and can lead to greater civic involvement year round. There are federal elections every two years. What are we waiting for?