California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed legislation establishing requirements for in-person voting in the November general election, hours after the bill was approved by the state Senate.
Facing the uncertainty of an election conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials are encouraging vote-by-mail and sending every California voter a ballot. The legislation signed by Newsom will allow counties to offer fewer in-person voting sites, as many counties struggle to find locations to accommodate physical distancing.
Under Senate Bill 423, counties will still have to offer a voting location for every 10,000 voters and, if they choose to consolidate polling sites, allow in-person voting for three days before the election.
Newsom initially advocated for the changes in an executive order signed in June. The order faced legal challenges that argued Newsom exceeded his executive authority — challenges now rendered moot by the legislation.
On the Senate floor Thursday, state Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, said he wrote the bill “to guarantee that there will be accessible, secure and safe in-person opportunities for voters who cannot or choose not to use their vote-by-mail ballot.”
Despite the state’s emphasis on mail voting, many voters will still need to vote in-person, Umberg said, including voters who need language or disability access assistance, or those who need to update their registration or address.
The legislation won super-majority support in the state Senate, after passing the Assembly on Monday.
Opponents of the bill worried that allowing counties to close polling places would inevitably limit access for voters. In states including Georgia and Wisconsin, the closure of voting locations resulted in long lines at the polls.
Fifteen California counties already use vote centers, larger voting locations that serve all voters in the county and provide a wider range of services. SB 423 will allow those counties to reduce in-person voting from 10 days to three.
“I prefer 10 days over three,” said state Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa.
