On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will discuss moving to a vote by all mail only Presidential Election this November.
If approved, the county will ask Governor Gavin Newsom to declare the election as a mail ballot only in an effort to take steps to reduce the transmission rates of COVID-19.
The cost of conducting an all-mail ballot election is not expected to result in a net increase in the cost of the election if an Executive Order is issued before the County expends funds for election on November 3, 2020.
According to the county, they report that already, 25% of county voters (175k) vote in person which involves congregation of people at a single location and use of shared polling place equipment. Polling locations are staffed by volunteers, the vast majority of whom are seniors, the population most vulnerable to COVID-19. Further, many of the polling locations and volunteers have notified the Elections Office that they will not be available to serve in the 2020 Presidential General Election because of health and safety concerns resulting from the virus.
The County also says it has the infrastructure and experience to conduct large vote-by-mail elections under California’s existing vote-by-mail procedure which will make for an accessible, secure, safe and will minimize the risks of in-person voting during the current pandemic.
For those who cannot be offered remote voting, the county would have a limited amount of in-person voting available for those who require those accommodations.
The county says its concerned that if the 2020 presidential election was conducted in the traditional manner, it could put voters at exposure risk to COVID-19 and other voters might not vote out of fear of contracting the virus.
OR DURING THE MEETING.
If you have difficulty accessing the public comment link, please contact Clerk of the Board at [email protected].
8 comments
NOOOO! We’re not even close to November! You liberals are always trying to manipulate the vote!
You….are…a…knucklehead
I hope this does not start the deterioration and integrity of our voting system. Ballots by mail for all without verification of the actual voter will create more fraud than usual. A one time thing due to the virus maybe, but permanent would be a mistake.
Voting in person can still be safe if organized responsibly.
If you want to control elections this is how you do it. We have a right to vote in person and have our ballots counted in a proper manner. This state has already screwed all Republicans by not having a candidate from either party. DMV will ramp up with illegal immigrants with motor voter.
No! Fraud exists, this would open the door for more. The problem with “just this time”, is that it always ends up becoming the norm. Government and other authorities are to quick to trample on our freedoms and rights, we are going to continue to lose ground if we don’t take a stand!
Vote by Mail is the same as absentee voting.
It’s fine and I agree with this plan.
This is a great idea. Most of us already vote absentee, so it just makes sense to have everyone do it. Since most polling places are staffed by older people it’s just safer to do our elections this way.
Connie is right 100 percent !
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