Voting in California is Changing!

What? The Voter’s Choice Act

Why? To make it easier for more people to vote

The Voters Choice Act was developed and supported by the The Future of California Elections (FoCE), a collaboration between election officials, civil rights organizations and election reform advocates to examine and address the unique challenges facing the State of California’s election system. The goal is to implement an easier more participative voting system encouraging all those eligible to vote.

Voter’s Choice California Mission Statement

Voter’s Choice California is a coalition of civil rights groups, advocates for effective government, and community based organizations committed to advancing effective implementation of the California Voter’s Choice Act and broad, diverse voter participation.

What is the Voters Choice Act – and Why Does It Matter?

The California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA), or Senate Bill (SB) 450 (Allen, D-26) was signed into law on September 29, 2016, adding Section 4005 to the California Elections Code, allowing authorized counties, upon approval of their Board of Supervisors, to conduct any election by mail, with certain requirements.

The Process

Under VCA, all voters would be mailed a ballot commencing 29 days before the election, and each county would establish, with public input, numerous Ballot Drop-off Locations and Vote Centers throughout the county where any county voter may cast their ballot. This legislation was one of many election reforms designed to change how elections may be conducted in order to increase voter participation and voter engagement by expanding voting options. Before VCA, elections were conducted under the traditional Polling Place Model. This was a combined model of vote-by-mail and polling place administration. Elections Code §12261(a) mandated the County Election Officials establish voting precincts, with a maximum of 1,000 voters and each with a distinct voting location (which also serves to be the data that allows the county and the state to report election results by each voting precinct). Only those with physical limitations could be on the list of Permanent Vote-by-Mail voters; anyone else who wanted to vote by mail had to submit a request each election. A voter who did not vote by mail was required to vote at their assigned voting location that was distinct to their voting precinct and ballot type. Then, in 2002, the California Elections Code expanded vote-by-mail and permitted anyone to become a Permanent Vote-by-Mail voter. This expansion generated a change in voter behavior where now a majority of voters in Santa Clara County are requesting to vote by mail rather than appearing to vote in person at their assigned voting location. Those registered as permanent vote-by-mail voters are mailed their ballot approximately 29 days before an election and have up until the close of polls on Election Day to return that ballot, whether at a polling location, at a Ballot Drop-off Location, or by mail.

Vote Center Model

With the implementation of VCA, elections will be conducted under a new Vote Center Model. With the new model, every registered voter will be a vote-by-mail voter and receive an official vote-by-mail ballot in the mail, commencing 29 days prior to the scheduled election. Voters will be able to return their ballot any of three ways: by mail (postage paid), at any Ballot Drop-off Location, or at any Vote Center in the county. Voters may also choose not to return their vote-by-mail ballot and instead obtain a ballot to vote in person at the office of the Registrar of Voters (ROV) or at any Vote Center in Santa Clara County.

The Vote Center Model will not change much for current permanent vote-by-mail voters. It mainly changes procedures for voters who would typically visit their assigned polling place on the day of the election to cast their vote. Now, rather than voters only having one location to vote, Vote Centers will be open to all registered voters in the County.