Votebeat

Elections

Smooth and simple or problematic? California, tell us your experience voting

You’ve voted, or you plan to. We want to know how the process works for you.

By CalMatters Staff • October 27, 2020

Elections

When power is transferred—literally—in an election

In a stark scene of what the electoral process in California can look like in 2020, masked voters last Monday cast early ballots in an El Dorado County elections office powered by a generator after dry winds and fear of wildfires triggered an electricity shutoff. This year, thanks to back-up generators and the promise of […]

By Aaron Leathley • October 27, 2020

Elections

Pens, PPE, Police: Preparing for in-person voting

It was a succinct appraisal of the state of mind of county election officials grappling with the new normal of voting in the year of a pandemic, disinformation and threats of voter intimidation. Across California, officials have been training workers at polling places and vote centers in new protocols, acquiring equipment to protect voters and […]

By Aaron Leathley and Zachary Fletcher • October 26, 2020

Elections

Here’s how California keeps early votes secret until election day

Some county registrars lock up equipment and threaten dismissal to protect California’s early votes from being tallied before election day.  The state legislature changed election law this year so election officials could scan ballots as they come in, to deal with an expected crush of ballots well before election day. Officials wanted to be sure […]

By Lewis Griswold • October 26, 2020

Elections

No ticket needed: Stadiums welcome voters for November election

For California sports fans, walking through the doors of the Staples Center or Levi’s Stadium isn’t an option this year. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local health departments barred fans across the country from attending games. But this November, counties and teams across California are allowing access to stadiums again – this […]

By Zachary Fletcher • October 23, 2020

Elections

California Democrats swamp Republicans in early voter turnout

With more than a quarter of the ballots processed, early returns show California Democrats are turning out in proportionately far higher numbers than Republicans and independents.  About 32 percent of registered Democrats — upwards of 3.2 million — have already voted in the November general election, according to Political Data’s ballot tracker. In comparison, 23 […]

By Dylan Svoboda • October 23, 2020

Elections

Do you know where your ballot is?

For the first time, Californians can track their mail-in ballots from the point they’re printed to the moment they’re accepted by their county elections office. Ballot tracking, now available in parts or all of a dozen states, has become a particularly useful option this year, when many voters are anxious about election security.  As of […]

By Elena Neale-Sacks • October 22, 2020

Elections

Before the pandemic, California’s polling places were already disappearing

Standing in line at their local polling place, a longtime ritual for many Californians, will be a thing of the past this Election Day for half of the state’s voters.  That’s because in 2016 the California Legislature passed the Voter’s Choice Act, which allows counties to transition from polling places to a vote center and […]

By Katie Licari • October 22, 2020

California Wildfires

How to vote in a pandemic when you’ve lost your home in a wildfire

   Lea este artículo en español. In August, as lightning strikes ignited fires around his Napa County home, Ian MacMillan escaped the flames with his wife, three kids and mother-in-law. A month later, when another wildfire roared through Northern California’s wine country, they had to flee their home again. “It sounded like a war zone,” MacMillan, […]

By Isabella Bloom and Marco Torrez • October 21, 2020

Elections

Here’s why election officials say no need to hand deliver mail ballot

California election officials assure voters their ballot is safe in drop boxes and the mail, yet some voters are hand delivering anyway.

By Lewis Griswold • October 21, 2020