State expects smooth vote in November despite virus
The coronavirus turned what already promised to be an unprecedented presidential election year into a new test for California and its voting system, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Friday.
The March 3 primary spotlighted the enthusiasm California voters were feeling, Padilla said in an hourlong online interview with Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.
“We entered 2020 knowing this would be a big election year,” the secretary said. “We had record registration of nearly 20.7 million. We had a record number of primary ballots cast.
We had the highestever percentage of eligible voters registered. “Then COVID happened.” Less than two weeks after the primary, much of the state was shut down as officials tried to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which as of Friday has killed 4,481 Californians and sickened more than 123,000.
It also left Padilla and election officials around the state scrambling to ensure that the November election, with what could be a record voter turnout, would run smoothly and, just as important, safely.
Luckily, California had a head start on the needed changes, Padilla said.
“Some policies that California championed to get more access (for voters) will help during the pandemic,” he said. Online registration, easy ways for voters to verify that their registration information is correct, and the state’s “Where’s My Ballot” tracking program all make life simpler for voters who may be homebound during the pandemic.
And when Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month that all voters would receive mail ballots in November, it wasn’t a huge change for California. In the March primary, more than 72% of the state’s voters cast their ballots by mail.
The governor’s call Wednesday for a statewide system of inperson voting centers that will be open days before the election also was designed to ease concerns of voters.
The revised November election rules aren’t about politics but public health, Padilla said.
“The more people who vote by mail or who vote early means less lines and a safer experience for everyone,” he said.
In addition to the work that has to be done preparing for a totally different type of election in the fall, the state also has to continue its effort to boost turnout, not only in total numbers but also from groups typically underrepresented.
“Lowerincome groups, communities of color, young people especially” all are less like to register, Padilla said.
He has little patience for the attacks on mail voting by President Trump, who said its use in California will result in a rigged election, and Attorney General William Barr, who has suggested that counterfeit mail ballots produced by a foreign country are a real worry in November.
“The attacks by Barr or Trump himself are wrong,” baseless attempts to sow doubts about the November election results, Padilla said. Voting by mail “is the right things to do in the pandemic.”
Political attacks are far from the only worries voting officials are facing. The pandemic is also going to transform the physical face of the election.
The neighborhood garages and retirement homes that counties have used as polling places for decades don’t really work now, not only because of the danger from the virus, but also because of their size in this time of social distancing.
“We need bigger spaces,” Padilla said. “Some 25 to 30 voting machines can’t be next to each other anymore.”
Then there are the people who help run the elections.
“Lots of the seniors and retirees who administer elections won’t be available,” because they are among those most vulnerable to the coronavirus, Padilla said. “We need to recruit a new generation of poll workers.”
California is going to be ready for the November election, but getting there hasn’t been easy, the secretary said.
“If I had to put it in one word, it would be ‘stressful.’ ”