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6d ago

California Starts Mailing Prop. 50 Ballots as Officials Warn of Election Day USPS Postmark Risks

Voters are urged to return ballots early or use official drop boxes because some ballots mailed on Election Day may not be postmarked in time to be counted.

People drop off their ballots at the Los Angeles County Registrar on October 28, 2024, in Norwalk, California, two days after early voting in Los Angeles County began. Millions of US voters have already cast their ballots either by mail and drop-off boxes or in-person early voting ahead of the November 5 US presidential elections. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People walk through Old Town Temecula in 2020. New congressional maps going before California voters in November would shift Temecula, a GOP-friendly city, from a red district to one with a plurality of Democratic voters in an effort to give Democrats more seats in the state’s House of Representatives delegation. (File photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, Calif., on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Overview

  • Ballots begin going out statewide the week of Oct. 6, with Los Angeles County already mailing, and vote centers set to open Oct. 25 alongside official drop boxes.
  • Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber warn that voters more than 50 miles from USPS processing hubs may miss same-day postmarks if they mail on Nov. 4, advising mailing at least a week early or requesting a manual postmark at the counter.
  • Proposition 50 would temporarily shift congressional map-drawing from the independent commission to the Legislature through 2030, a move supporters say counters Texas’s mid‑decade remap and could add up to five Democratic seats.
  • Local leaders are divided, with Marin County supervisors endorsing the measure and the Temecula City Council voting 4–1 to oppose it, as fundraising tops $200 million with roughly two-thirds supporting Prop. 50.
  • If voters approve Prop. 50, expedited legal challenges are expected to go directly to the California Supreme Court with potential federal review, and counties such as San Diego are operating on compressed timelines with fewer vote centers than a regular general election.