By Dave Mason
The Center Square

California officials Thursday urged voters to vote early in the Nov. 4 special election that will determine whether and how the state draws new congressional districts to pick up five additional Democratic seats.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, told reporters she hoped to see 60% to 70% in the turnout for the statewide election, which has nothing on the ballot but Proposition 50. The measure is intended to add Democratic seats in response to redistricting in Texas that’s designed to pick up five additional Republican seats before the 2026 midterm election in the U.S. House.

Ballots will be mailed Monday to voters throughout the state, Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, standing next to Weber, said at the news conference in Los Angeles.

“You need to be registered to vote on or before Oct. 20,” Bonta said.

Voters can cast ballots in a variety of ways: mail-in ballots, ballots dropped off at designated boxes in their communities (including all libraries) and in-person voting at centers that will start operating Oct. 25 in 29 counties, Bonta said. California has a total of 58 counties.

The attorney general said the ballot boxes will be set up by Tuesday.

And registered voters can cast ballots in person in polls throughout the state on Nov. 4, he said.

Weber said voters who complete their ballots at home can drop them off at any voting place anywhere. “Don’t think you have to go back to your neighborhood.”

Mailed-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 4, Bonta said, urging voters not to wait until then to mail them because of a U.S. Postal Service change. If voters live more than 50 miles from six regional postal processing centers, their ballots will be postmarked after Nov. 4 if they mail them on Nov. 4, making them ineligible to be counted, Bonta said.

To avoid any issues with the postmark, officials are encouraging people to mail their ballots by Nov. 1.

When reporters asked him later about the change, the attorney general said the Biden administration approved the postal service change, but the Trump administration is the first to implement it. The Biden-era U.S. Postal Service adopted the change through the Regional Transportation Optimization initiative, which adds a day of delivery for post offices more than 50 miles from a regional processing center. The RTO took effect April 1.

The centers include two in Los Angeles and one each in Sacramento, Richmond, Santa Clarita and San Diego.

Weber said voters with questions can contact her office at 1-800-345-VOTE or the elections office in their county. They also can go to sos.ca.gov/elections.

“The right to freely cast your vote and have it counted is, of course, the very foundation of our democracy,” Bonta said. “It’s a right that defines our state and our nation.”

California will enforce election laws, he said. “It is a felony to coerce a person to vote, not to vote or to vote in a certain way. It’s also illegal to fraudulently advise someone they aren’t eligible to register to vote when they are [eligible].”

“It’s a crime to direct someone to the wrong voting place or tell them their voting place is closed when it’s not,” he said.

“The unfortunate reality is there are people who would like to see a lower voter turnout,” Bonta said.

Bonta noted successful court efforts blocked Trump’s executive order requiring proof of citizenship for elections. A federal judge in Boston blocked most of the order in the case brought by California and other states. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction against the order.

But there’s merit to requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration, state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told The Center Square after Bonta’s and Weber’s news conference.

After all, a dog voted in the last two elections in Costa Mesa, Strickland said, noting the owner bragged about it on social media.

“We have one of the worst election systems in the country,” said Strickland, who’s co-author of a California bill to require voter ID in California. He noted fraudulent votes cancel those that are cast legitimately.

Strickland added he shares Weber’s and Bonta’s hope for a large turnout, but noted his reason is he believes it will lead to a rejection of Proposition 50 and a preservation of the congressional districts drawn by the independent citizens commission. Strickland said he has gone door to door in his district and has learned that many voters aren’t aware there’s an election this year. He said after he talks with them, they oppose Prop. 50.

In California, various local jurisdictions hold their elections in even-numbered years, when statewide and federal elections are held, to save costs and boost turnout. There would have been no election on Nov. 4 in those jurisdictions if not for Proposition 50.

As proposed by the Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature, the redistricting map splits counties and cities. One result, Strickland noted, is that Los Angeles gains a seat and the Inland Empire loses one, even though the population is decreasing in L.A. and increasing in the Inland Empire, a region east of Los Angeles.

The new districts put dissimilar areas together, Strickland said. “You’ll have rural California represented by San Francisco.

“Palm Springs has nothing in common with Coronado and San Diego,” but they’re all in the same congressional district under Proposition 50, Strickland said.