#vote-by-mail

#vote-by-mail

Over 4.5 million ballots were cast, either by mail or in person, as of Sunday, Oct. 26, according to the California secretary of state's office. The secretary of state's office sent more than 23.2 million vote-by-mail ballots to registered voters in recent weeks. Eligible voters who did not register to vote by the regular deadline, and therefore weren't sent a mail-in ballot, may have cast a conditional or provisional ballot in person instead. Their votes are included in Sunday's tally.

Hand-counting millions of mail ballots would be unwieldy and create problems, Secretary of State Cord Byrd told state Rep. Meg Weinberger, a Palm Beach County Republican who raised the issue. Byrd said hand-counting would be less accurate than the electronic equipment Florida election supervisors use for tabulation. And, he said it would delay election results. At the same legislative hearing at which Byrd knocked down the notion of hand-counting ballots, he suggested he was readying a proposal that would provide something the MAGA movement wants.

Mail voting comprised 30.3% of the turnout for the 2024 election, a decrease compared to the 2020 election when mail ballots comprised 43% of turnout.