{"id":158,"date":"2026-05-07T10:31:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=158"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:31:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:31:50","slug":"election-officials-urge-early-mail-in-voting-warn-about-misinformation-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=158","title":{"rendered":"Election officials urge early mail-in voting, warn about \u2018misinformation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span>SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>State election officials warned voters Tuesday to send their mail-in ballots in early after changes at the U.S. Postal Service that have led to slower mail service throughout California.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=156\">Tom Steyer tries to sell voters on his own personal change<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber said vote-by-mail ballots should be put in the mail at least a week before the June 2 election.  <\/p>\n<p>The officials also cast skepticism about social media posts that urge Democrats to vote \u201clate\u201d and to rally around one candidate in order to ensure a Republican doesn\u2019t win. The posts are similar in wording and have spread on Facebook in the last week. <\/p>\n<p>Bonta said the posts, which were brought up by The Times at a news conference in Sacramento, could be \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201cdisinformation\u201d and \u201cpotentially unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet your ballot in the mail at least a week early,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to make sure your vote is counted. And the misinformation that you\u2019re referencing is the misinformation we\u2019re trying to combat.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Voters using the postal service to mail their ballot within a week of the election should go inside the post office and ask that their ballot be postmarked, or can drop off their ballot at a secure voter box, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The new guidance comes after sweeping changes made by the Postal Service last year that has reduced the number of trips to pick up mail at post offices in mostly rural areas in the country, including California.<\/p>\n<p>A Times analysis of last year\u2019s November special election found that there was a significantly higher number of mail-in ballots that arrived too late to be counted compared with the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<p>Rural counties saw some of the biggest increase in rejected ballots because they came in too late, The Times found.<\/p>\n<p>The changes to the Postal Service are nationwide, but are particularly relevant in California because the vast majority of people vote in the state using mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Voters who mail a ballot on election day, or even two days before, may not see their vote counted because it will arrive too late, Bonta told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want your vote to be counted, I want your vote to be counted,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cIf you vote earlier, you maximize that possibility that it will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=154\">How I learned to stop worrying about noncitizens voting in L.A. elections<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Vote-by-mail ballots are considered late if they are not postmarked on or ahead of election day or if the postmarked ballots do not arrive within seven days of the election.<\/p>\n<p>Weber\u2019s office also said it would look into a recent trend of social posts that urge California Democrats to \u201cvote late\u201d in the June 2 election. <\/p>\n<p>The posts, which have appeared on Facebook and Instagram, are similar in wording, and tell Democrats to hold off from voting early to ensure that two Republican don\u2019t make the two top spots, and to rally around one Democrat. <\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s primary election system allows the two candidates who received the most votes to advance to the November election, regardless of party. <\/p>\n<p>With many Democrats crowding the ballot this year, some Democratic leaders have expressed concern fear that two Republicans \u2014 businessman Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco \u2014 will take the top two spots because Democratic voters will be splintered among the party\u2019s top seven candidates. <\/p>\n<p>The validity of the social media posts are under scrutiny. <\/p>\n<p>One post on Facebook last week, for instance, purports to be written by historian Heather Cox Richardson. The post warned voters not to vote until after all the debates in California have concluded and the front-runner is clear.<\/p>\n<p>Richardson told The Times that she\u2019s not connected to the post. \u201cI didn\u2019t write it and we can\u2019t figure out who did,\u201d she said in an email. \u201cI haven\u2019t \u2014 and won\u2019t \u2014 take any position in a primary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last statewide election in California was closely watched after the U.S. Department of Justice said would monitor polling sites in some California counties after a request by California Republican Party officials.<\/p>\n<p>However, the election proceeded without any incident.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday sent a letter to elections officials in the state\u2019s 58 counties that highlighted recent legislation mandating that California ballots be counted within 13 days, instead of 30 days. Newsom thanked the elections staff for their work and urged a speedy vote count.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must acknowledge that the longer the voting count takes,\u201d Newsom wrote, \u201cthe more mis- and disinformation spreads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=152\">Xavier Becerra shows that his loyalty lies with fossil fuels<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State elections officials warned voters Tuesday to send their mail-in ballots in early after changes at the U.S. Postal Service that have led to slower mail service throughout California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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