California Shows Exactly Why Having The Right Election Laws Is So Important

Eligible applicants completing a driver license, identification (ID) card or change of address transaction online, by mail or in person at the DMV will be automatically registered to vote by the California Secretary of State, unless they choose to opt out of automatic voter registration.

An act to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 2260) to Division 2 of the Elections Code ... Establishes the California New Motor Voter Program.

In California, under the California Motor Voter program, every eligible applicant who visits a DMV office to apply for or renew a DL/ID or to change an address is automatically registered to vote, unless they choose to opt out of automatic registration.

The National Voter Registration Act requires states to designate state government agencies and offices that provide public assistance or services to people with disabilities as voter registration agencies ... these agencies must offer people the opportunity to register to vote (and collect declination forms), rather than automatically register everyone.

Under the CNMV, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) registers all customers who affirm their eligibility to vote and do not actively decline registration.

Public Interest Legal Foundation analyzed California’s voter rolls last year and found approximately 94,500 deceased, 57,700 registered in other states, 7,700 with placeholder/fictitious birthdates, and thousands of same-address duplicates.

Topline findings include: Deceased Registrants from Statewide Sample: 94,516; Interstate Duplicate Registrants: 57,725; Same-Address Duplicate Registrants: 3,104; Placeholder/Fictitious Dates of Birth: 7,677.

A grand total of 94,516 registrants in California are flagged as apparently deceased from a sample of 2 million active registrants.

PILF’s comprehensive review, based on a sample of 2 million active registrants, found: 94,516 deceased registrants flagged from comparisons with the Social Security Death Index and obituary records; 57,725 interstate duplicates...

Voter list maintenance is complex; jurisdictions use multiple data sources (SSA death data, NCOA, and third‑party commercial data) and pilot studies show varied results and limitations.

The findings do not show that ballots were actually cast in the names of deceased people, but the group's numbers highlight how big the record-keeping job becomes...

Investigative reporting has uncovered an alarming number of ineligible voters on the state's voter rolls, e.g., '94,516 deceased registrants' referenced in oversight correspondence.

No later than 29 days before the day of the election, the county elections official shall begin mailing the materials required by Section 3010. The county elections official shall have five days to mail a ballot to each active registered voter by the 29th day before the day of the election ...

Voters with active records are mailed Voter Information Guides and mail ballots for every election in which they are eligible to vote. ... Inactive voters that do not confirm or respond ... will be cancelled if they fail to vote in the succeeding two federal general elections.

Governor ... signed into law Senate Bill 152, which mandates that every active, registered voter be mailed a ballot for every election ...

The elections official shall keep a record of each vote by mail voter ballot sent to and received from a voter and shall verify, prior to counting any duplicate ballot, that the voter has not attempted to vote twice. If it is determined that a voter has attempted to vote twice, both ballots shall be void.

There is a statewide voter registration system that is used to crosscheck all of California’s county registration files for duplicates, which helps to keep the voter registration files updated. ... The situation you describe is one of the most common causes of duplicate registrations on the voter registration rolls.

Much of the White House’s evidence criticizes California’s system of mailing ballots to all active registered voters. ... Election workers verify identity by matching signatures on the mail ballot envelopes with the registration records.