Vote-by-mail bill signed into law by Newsom

Every registered voter in the state of California will receive a mail-in ballot for the November general election this year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to allow for the change Thursday night.

Newsom spoke about the new law on the “Late Late Show” hours after signing it.

“Yes, how dare we try to allow people their fundamental and constitutional right to vote in a way that keeps them safe and healthy,” Newsom said. “… And that’s all we’re doing by providing options for people that include vote by mail but the Trump administration (and the) Republican National Committee have sued the state of California. We’ll prevail. But again, no one says that any of this is easy.”

North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood lauded the move.

“Every registered voter in California, no matter what party, should use their voice to vote and the ability to vote by mail not only allows people to vote without worrying about their health, but allows them to vote easily, without standing in a long line at a precinct or worrying about taking time off from work,” said Wood (D-Santa Rosa) in an email to the TimesStandard.

He noted that the new law does not take away the ability to vote at a polling location.

“This law authorizes the Secretary of State to send a ballot to every registered voter without them having to request one, but preserves the voters’ choice to mail it in or visit their local precinct or voting center, encouraging maximum turnout and providing equal access, something we should ensure in our representative democracy,” Wood said.

In Humboldt County, around two-thirds of the registered voters use the vote-by-mail process already. Humboldt County’s registrar of voters Kelly

Sanders is working to prepare the county for expanding the vote-by-mail process. She previously said there would be fewer polling locations in the county in November as part of those efforts.

Under the new law, there will be an expanded time for local elections officials to collect and count mailin ballots. Previously, ballots were counted if they arrived within three days of the election. The new law extends that to 17 days.

At the national level, lawmakers are working to protect the postal service and, in turn, the mail-in vote effort. The House of Representatives recently passes the HEROES Act, which includes funding for the U.S. Postal Service, North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman said Friday.

“This is a priority,” he said. “We are not going to let the next response to the COVID crisis not include the postal service. … These are essential responses to the crisis.”

The Senate has not voted on the bill yet and Huffman was not aware of a timeline.

“When (the Senate and the Trump administration) feel sufficient pressure to make a deal with us, then this will happen,” he said.