Getting Ready for November in COVID Times

Voting by Mail

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench into every corner of our lives. The recent Wisconsin primary—which was held on April 7 with traditional at-the-polls ballot casting, despite the COVID outbreak—reminds us that we need to be ready for November’s election in the expectation that social distancing may still be essential. In this issue of the Voter, Martha Zavala (“March to November”) addresses some of the issues facing L.A. County as we approach the fall.

Wisconsin was just the canary in the coal mine, and most likely many voters stayed home having not received their absentee ballots in the mail. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday, April 6, that absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday, April 7, in order to count in the Wisconsin primary. The effect: to force voters who had not received their absentee ballots—some of whom had requested ballots weeks beforehand—either to hazard the crowds at the polls or to skip voting altogether. President Trump denigrated vote-by-mail programs shortly thereafter, issuing the assertion that “thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody’s living room signing ballots all over the place. . . . There’s a lot of dishonesty going on with mail-in voting.” There is no evidence to support this claim.

The outlook for the pandemic changes daily; we cannot foresee the social landscape in November and to what extent distancing may, or may not, abate. We do know, however, that a vaccine may not be widely available until 2021—if all goes well. As members of the League of Women Voters we are committed to the right, and responsibility, of every citizen to vote. It behooves all of us to make sure we can exercise the franchise:

• If you do not know your current voting status, please visit https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov/ where, in a matter of seconds, you can determine both your current status and your vote-by-mail status.
• You can also visit the L.A. County Registrar’s “Vote-by-Mail Status” page at https://www.lavote.net/av_inquiry to determine your status.
• Finally, if you regularly visit the polls (or, now, the new vote centers) physically but wish to make sure you will be “safe to vote” in the fall, sign up for vote-by-mail by visiting https://www.lavote.net/home/voting-elections/voting-options/vote-by-mail/apply-to-vote-by-mail.
• And, if you wish to receive some assistance from a fellow League member, don’t hesitate to get in touch at voterservices [at] lwv-pa.org.

—Chris Moose