DEMYSTIFYING THE MYSTERIOUS: California’s Election Laws

Part 12: Voters Choice Act

 

 

In 2016, the equivalent of an atomic bomb hit

what was left of integrity in California’s electoral process.

 

The Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) was passed as AB 450, fundamentally transforming the way elections are held in participating counties.

 

Since then, the State has found behind-the-scenes ways to make it very uncomfortable and difficult for counties to hold onto their traditional voting methods.

 

There are now 27 VCA counties (soon to be 29) (https://www.sos.ca.gov/voters-choice-act/vca-participating-counties ), encompassing virtually ALL of California’s major population centers.

 

In VCA counties:

  • All registered voters are mailed a ballot.

 

  • Neighborhood precinct polling places are eliminated.

 

  • Vote Centers (VCs) are established and open for 11 days.

 

  • For the first seven days, there must be one Vote Center for every 60,000 voters.

 

  • For the last four days additional VCs are opened at the ratio of one for every 10,000 voters.

 

By contrast, neighborhood precincts

would rarely contain more than 500 voters.

 

On the surface, the VCA appears to create the means for voting to be more convenient:

 

  • Polls are open for 11 days instead of 1.

 

  • Voters may vote anywhere in the county rather than being limited to their own precinct location.

 

  • Drop boxes are liberally distributed throughout the county for easy ballot submission.

 

However, there are significant drawbacks as well:

 

  • Vote Centers depend on internet connectivity; no voting can take place if there is a breakdown (significant issues within multiple counties have been documented, most notably Los Angeles).

 

Note: this is why Vote Centers in Maricopa County in AZ had so many issues in 2022.

 

  • The system can only potentially work if the State (and county) has a “clean” database.

 

  • EIPCa’s data team has proven conclusively that VoteCal, California’s statewide voter database, is woefully unmaintained and unreliable.

 

  • The system distances voters from a convenient opportunity to vote in person in their neighborhood – many would have to travel a long distance to the nearest VC.

 

  • The VC model negatively impacts voters with disabilities and transportation issues, forcing them to use the much less secure mail-in ballot and removing “voter choice.”

 

  • The VCA distances citizens from their right to participate as poll workers.

 

  • In counties that once had a single Election Day with one day of voting, citizens could take a 2-hour training and give one 15-hour day of their time to do their civic duty.

 

  • Now, with vote centers, citizens are expected to give 15 to 20 days to be elections workers.

 

This increases the chance that the polls

are run mostly by city and county union members…

 

…NOT by civic-minded citizens

from all walks of life and political perspectives.

 

  • The VC model creates a huge waste of taxpayer money by staffing Vote Centers for 11 days, the first 9 of which have panned out to show virtually no voting activity.

 

  • Participating counties must follow strict requirements for widespread disbursement of ballot drop boxes.

 

  • These boxes are unstaffed, unmonitored, and legally allow ballots to sit for 96 hours before being retrieved.

 

  • This situation creates unacceptable vulnerability for voted ballots.

 

A good look at the Voters Choice Act will uncover an obvious truth.  It is actually designed to:

 

  • distance citizens from the electoral process
  • discourage voting in person
  • inject chaos into the election system
  • facilitate lack of transparency
  • lead to more illegitimate votes being cast and counted
  • lead to more actual voters being disenfranchised without their knowledge
  • facilitate invisible election manipulation

 

If you live in a VCA county, pay close attention to the information on your elections office website, and on the mailings to voters.

 

If voters are...

  1. not clearly advised of their right to vote in person without an envelope,
     
  2. overly encouraged to mail in their ballot,
     
  3. not advised that Vote Centers are available for ALL voters,

 

begin to work with your county elections officials to craft a more balanced and accurate message to voters.
 

 

If your county has not adopted the VCA model, learn more and become active in preventing your county from making the change.

 

  • In counties with an elected Registrar of Voters, the Registrar will make the final decision.
     
  • In counties with an appointed Registrar, the County Board of Supervisors will make the final call. Start the conversation NOW.

 

 

The Voters Choice Act is indefensible

from an election integrity standpoint.

 

  

pdf of article 

EIPCa is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) charity. Contributions are tax deductible.
Demystifying the Mysterious - Part 12: Voters Choice Act     ©Election Integrity Project®California, Inc. copyrighted 2023