It’s secure — and personal — to vote by mail within the particular election on redistricting, California’s elections officers say after a number of, now-viral social media posts have claimed in any other case in latest days.
Mailed ballots aren’t designed to point out or expose what the voter marked, Secretary of State Shirley Weber stated, pushing again on latest claims peddled by well-liked social media accounts and Republican politicians.
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At difficulty is the envelope offered for ballots to be returned both by mail or at a drop field or vote middle. Counties are accountable for printing the ballots and mail voting supplies (together with the return envelope), and a few have opted to incorporate small punched holes on the envelope to assist visually impaired voters discover the place they should signal to ensure that their poll to be counted.
However pictures and movies posted on social media present that envelopes in some counties can present if a voter marked no on Proposition 50, relying on how a poll is positioned within the envelope. One put up, which had 5.8 million views as of Tuesday afternoon, alleged it was a method for Democrats to “cheat” within the election.
“There are numerous ways to insert a ballot card into the return envelope,” the California secretary of state’s workplace stated. “If a voter is concerned, they can insert their ballot in a manner where any markings are obscured.”
The Sacramento County Division of Voter Registration and Elections, which was the topic of one of many viral social media posts, famous the ballots are solely printed on one facet and inspired involved voters to fold their poll so their vote is on the within.
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The California Republican Occasion has responded to most of the social media posts as effectively — together with one promoted by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas — displaying how a poll may be positioned in an envelope with out a vote displaying. The GOP’s video encourages voters to vote towards Prop. 50, the Democratic-backed measure.
Not each county makes use of these holes on their poll supplies. Orange County, for instance, prints poll supplies in-house and doesn’t punch holes within the return envelopes as a result of they didn’t work effectively within the mail-inserting gear it makes use of, in accordance with Bob Web page, the registrar of voters.
All registered California voters have been mailed ballots earlier this month for the particular election. Voters can select to forged a poll in particular person on Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 4) or when vote facilities open later this month, or they will return their poll at a chosen drop field or within the mail so long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 4.
“Anyone who has questions about their ballot or vote-by-mail envelope should go to a trusted source such as my office, which has voter hotlines in various languages (www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/voter-hotlines), or their county elections office (www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/county-elections-offices),” stated Weber.
California voters have been requested on this particular election whether or not to implement new, partisan congressional maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. That may imply forgoing the present maps drawn by a 14-member group comprising 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 4 commissioners not affiliated with the 2 main events.
The proposal solely impacts congressional races. And it’s a partisan one, an effort to favor Democrats in California’s congressional elections as a option to counter related, Republican-led plans elsewhere within the nation to spice up the GOP.
