California rejected nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots in its June primary, exposing how votes can still go uncounted even in a state with some of the nation\u2019s strongest voter protections.<\/p>\n
According to recently released state data<\/a>, county election officials rejected 148,241 mail-in ballots of the more than 8.5 million total returned last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n The overwhelming driver were ballots that were deemed too late: 93,479 ballots were rejected because they were not postmarked or received within California\u2019s legally permitted window, accounting for 63% of all rejected mail ballots.<\/p>\n That percentage is especially notable, according to Mindy Romero, founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe increase in late ballots is helping to drive that increase in rejected ballots overall,\u201d Romero told Democracy Docket. \u201cAnd that\u2019s concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n The vast majority of California voters \u2014 about 90%<\/a> \u2014 cast their ballots by mail.<\/p>\n California mails a ballot<\/a> to every active registered voter and counts mailed ballots that arrive up to seven days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld<\/a> states\u2019 authority to use similar receipt deadlines, rejecting a Republican National Committee challenge to a Mississippi law that counts ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days.<\/p>\n The Court held that federal law does not require states to possess every ballot by Election Day.<\/p>\n The grace period is meant to protect voters from ordinary mail delays. But California\u2019s experience shows that a grace period may only be as protective as the bureaucratic systems on which it depends.<\/p>\n The U.S. Postal Service acknowledged<\/a> in a rule that took effect in December that most postmarks are applied when an envelope reaches an automated processing facility, not when a voter places it in a mailbox, hands it to a carrier or brings it to a local post office. The agency also admitted that its Regional Transportation Optimization program will make gaps between possession and postmarking more common.<\/p>\n \u201cThe date inscribed by a postmark applied at a processing facility may be later than the date that the mailpiece was first accepted by the Postal Service,\u201d the agency wrote.<\/p>\n Under the new transportation system, post offices serving ZIP codes more than 50 miles from regional processing centers generally lost a second daily truck trip. Mail collected during the day can remain at a local post office until the next morning before being transported for processing and postmarking.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Postal Regulatory Commission warned<\/a> that pilot versions slowed mail and that the program would disproportionately burden rural communities.<\/p>\n A ballot placed in the mail on Election Day can therefore remain in postal custody overnight, receive a postmark the next day and become invalid under California law \u2014 even if it reaches an election office during the seven-day window.<\/p>\n California officials urged<\/a> voters before the June 2 primary to mail ballots at least five days before Election Day. Anyone mailing a ballot on Election Day was advised to enter a post office and ask for a manual postmark \u2014 an extra step that shifts the burden for postal delays onto voters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know the extent that the USPS recent changes actually impacted or caused\u201d the increase, Romero said. \u201cI think it\u2019s reasonable to suggest there\u2019s a connection.\u201d<\/p>\n The available numbers show an unusual rise in late-ballot rejections but the trend began before the June primary.<\/p>\n In California\u2019s Proposition 50 special election last fall, approximately 45% of rejected mail ballots were deemed late, according to Romero. That made lateness the leading rejection reason after several elections in which signature problems had taken the top spot.<\/p>\n In the June primary, the late share climbed to 63%.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was striking was that the number one reason for rejection was lateness,\u201d Romero said of the special election. \u201cAnd actually, the percentage of ballots that were rejected because they were late actually increased in the primary.\u201d<\/p>\n But late arrival was not the only reason ballots of California voters went uncounted.<\/p>\n Election officials rejected 43,977 ballots because a voter\u2019s signature did not match the signature on file. Another 8,313 envelopes had no signature. Together, signature problems accounted for more than one-third of all rejected mail ballots.<\/p>\n Signature verification is intended to confirm that a ballot came from the registered voter. But voting rights advocates have long condemned<\/a> signature matching as an unreliable security measure whose burdens are not evenly distributed.<\/p>\n Election workers judge whether two handwritten marks came from the same person even as signatures can change with age and disability, among other reasons. Reference signatures may be years old or captured poorly on a Department of Motor Vehicles electronic pad.<\/p>\n California does allow voters to \u201ccure\u201d a problem \u2014 meaning verify their identity or provide a corrected signature \u2014 after election officials notify them.<\/p>\n Romero described California\u2019s verification system as robust and said rejected signatures often stem from honest mistakes or limited public understanding. Many voters may not realize that the signature on their ballot envelope will be compared with an older signature in their record.<\/p>\n \u201cThe majority of Californians don\u2019t know that their signature is going to be verified,\u201d Romero said. \u201cMaybe they sign really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n