Over the past two decades California has made great strides in improving voter participation. Efforts include the California Motor Voter program, vote-by-mail ballot return envelopes including prepaid postage, and most recently, in 2021, California became one of the eight states in the nation that automatically sends mail-in ballots to all eligible voters. From now on, all eligible voters will receive their ballot for federal, state, and local elections in the mail and can mail their ballot–with no postage required–or drop it off at a secure dropbox or deliver it to a polling place, vote center, or county elections office.
Measures like automatic mail-in ballots, prepaid postage on voter return envelopes, and streamlined California DMV voter registration are all efforts that strengthen California’s democracy and help disenfranchised voters participate in our election systems. To learn more about voting this November 8, 2022, check out the Secretary of State website here.