The newest salvo in President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign in opposition to mail-in voting arrived Monday, as he introduced he needs to “lead a motion” in opposition to mail ballots and advocate as a substitute for in-person and paper ballots, which he says are “sooner, and leaves NO DOUBT, on the finish of the night, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.”
Trump has criticized mail-in ballots since their fast rise in 2020, when after years of slower progress they exploded as a key innovation of the Covid election. However the logistics of counting mail-in votes helped hold the nation in suspense over who gained for almost 4 days after polls closed.
This newest push by Trump can also have the comfort of being the most recent line of assault within the redistricting wars. In California, state Democrats are trying their very own mid-decade gerrymander to counter the Trump-led push by Republicans to attract extra pleasant districts in Texas. And California stands proud as some of the outstanding embracers of mail-in voting — and among the many slowest to rely them.
General, mail-in voting accounted for 30% of the overall vote nationwide in 2024, down from its 2020 peak of 43%. Nonetheless, in California, the apply made up 81% of the overall vote, in keeping with a current report from the Election Help Fee.
Mail-in voting general has proved to be a difficult course of for a lot of election directors, with hurdles together with voter and poll verification and logistical points like opening envelopes, retaining supplies safe and, in lots of instances, hand-counting. Basically, the entire processes that occur in particular person when somebody votes at a polling place — particularly checking in and verifying their registration — can pile up quick when it occurs by mail.
However California has had a number of the best difficulties sorting via mail votes rapidly. Of the states with the best share of mail-in voting within the 2024 election, California set a benchmark for slowest progress the morning after the election.
Whereas Democrats have achieved regular success on the statewide degree lately, California’s extended vote counts left the nation in suspense over which occasion would win management of the Home of Representatives for days after the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Northern California’s Lake County didn’t attain the midway mark tabulating its 2024 election outcomes till greater than two weeks after election night time. Responding to scrutiny, the elections supervisor complained, “Why do we have to rush?”
Following the election, state laws was launched requiring counties to conclude a majority of their counting course of 13 days after the election. The invoice handed the state Meeting with bipartisan help and is in a state Senate committee looking for funding sign-off.
In the meantime, Trump faces excessive authorized and political hurdles to altering mail-in legal guidelines on his personal on the federal degree. With out new federal legal guidelines, states have huge latitude to set their very own election procedures. And his current publish could have been high of thoughts for him due to a immediate from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However it’s additionally occurring as California state legislators convened Monday to maneuver ahead on plans for a congressional map that, if permitted by voters, would goal 5 Republicans to lose their seats within the upcoming midterms. The hassle was sparked by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom as a response to Texas Republicans’ congressional redraw looking for to fortify their majority.
It could put the redistricting wars and Trump’s renewed campaign on mail-in votes on a political collision course within the Golden State.
