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6d ago

California Warns Voters Not to Mail Prop. 50 Ballots on Election Day

USPS processing changes could delay postmarks past Nov. 4, so officials are urging early returns to ensure votes count.

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

  • Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber said ballots dropped in mailboxes on Nov. 4 may be postmarked the next day in many areas, making them ineligible under state law.
  • The risk stems from a USPS change that adds a day of processing for communities more than about 50 miles from regional centers in Los Angeles, Bell Gardens, Santa Clarita, San Diego, Richmond and West Sacramento.
  • Ballots begin mailing statewide next week, with Los Angeles County already sending them; voters can return by mail early, use more than 400 official drop boxes in L.A. County, or vote in person at centers opening Oct. 25.
  • Officials advise not mailing on Election Day, suggest mailing by Nov. 1, note that a manual postmark can be requested at a post office counter, and highlight ballot tracking and multilingual assistance.
  • On Nov. 4, voters will decide Proposition 50, a Democratic-backed redistricting measure framed as a response to Texas; campaigns have raised over $200 million and a recent Emerson/Nextdoor poll reported majority support.