California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday that directs the state to mail every registered voter a ballot for the November election due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s a lot of excitement around this November’s election in terms of making sure that you can conduct yourself in a safe way and make sure your health is protected,” Newsom said.
California, which has 20.6 million voters, already has a majority of voters who vote by mail. In the state’s March primary election, 72% of ballots were cast by mail, and 14 counties already mail every voter a ballot for elections.
But it will be the first state in the country to commit to sending every voter in the state a mail-in ballot.
“There’s no safer, physically distancing, healthier way to exercise your right to vote than from the safety and convenience of your own home,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. “It’s great for public health. It’s great for voting rights. It’s gonna be great for participation.”
Five states had total vote-by-mail elections before the coronavirus pandemic: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
Newsom’s action came at the request of the chairmen of two state legislative committees who were working on legislation to accomplish a similar goal but worried that local officials would not have enough time to implement total vote-by-mail systems if they had to wait for a bill to move through the legislature.
Some physical polling places will remain open on election day in order to accommodate disabled voters.
The decision comes as Democrats nationwide call for vote-by-mail elections and Republicans push back.
President Trump tweeted opposition to mail-in voting last month, saying that it has “tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”
