Politics

Secretary of State, Weber, Att. Gen. Bonta Explain Your Voting Rights

Despite the devastating impacts of the global pandemic, nearly 17.8 million Californians were able to vote safely and securely in the 2020 General Election. That was the largest voter turnout in almost 70 years.

Published

3 years ago

August 24, 2021

Isabelle Price

LOS ANGELES, CA, OCT 2020: hand with 2020 US presidential election voting form in return envelope, about to be deposited into an official ballot drop box in Downtown

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they are laser-focused on ensuring that the state’s gubernatorial recall election on Sept. 14 is safe, fair, and accessible to every voter that visits a polling place or votes by mail.

As vote-by-mail ballots make their way to every active registered voter across the state, Weber and Bonta are asking Californians to review the “California Voter Bill of Rights,” learn more about the state’s voting protections and make a plan to cast their ballot.

Weber and Bonta spoke at a virtual news conference last week, livestreamed on the California Department of Justice website.

“It’s about helping voters make their voices heard,” Bonta said.

“California voters should know their rights. It’s an essential part of (keeping) our election safe and secure. If (voters) believe that they have been denied any of these rights or are aware of any election fraud or misconduct, please let us know.”

County elections officials across the state are required to mail each registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot. Voters can return their ballots by mail or through other options made available by their county elections officials or go in-person to the polls.

Registration numbers continue to rise to over 22 million.

“Democracy clearly matters to the people of California,” Weber said. “To ensure that the outcome of the upcoming recall election reflects the will of the people, Californians have my commitment and that of the Attorney General to protect the right of every eligible voter — regardless of party — to cast their ballot.”

Bonta said that every vote-by-mail ballot comes with a postage-paid envelope and, as long as it is postmarked by election day, Sept. 14, it is valid.

On election day, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) will be on call to provide additional assistance to the Secretary of State’s Office. The departments will work in tandem to enforce California’s election laws where needed through a team of attorneys and administrative staff across the state, Bonta said.

At the news conference, Weber spoke about Californians in county jails serving a misdemeanor sentence. She said a misdemeanor does not affect a person’s right to vote if they are awaiting trial, on parole, on probation, on mandatory supervision, on post-release community supervision, on federal supervised release. A person with a juvenile wardship adjudication is also eligible to vote.

But a person serving a state prison sentence in a county jail or state correctional facility is not allowed to register to vote or vote.

Once a person has finished serving their prison term, the right to vote is restored. However, the emancipated must register online or by filling out a paper voter registration card.

“We don’t have these laws that keep people on parole or probation or a felon from voting,” Weber said. “We’re saying that everyone has a right to vote other than those who are currently incarcerated in federal and state prisons.”

The California Voter Bill of Rights is available on the Secretary of State’s website in nearly 30 different languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.

To download the California Voter Bill of Rights in your language, visit: www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-bill-rights.

Isabelle Price

Posts by Isabelle Price

Up Next

Commentary: $215 M Cal Recall Election is Baseless, Trump-Backed Power Grab

Don't Miss

Recall Election Heats Up: Gov. Newsom Trades Fire with Larry Elder

Isabelle Price

1 Comment

Pingback: Practical Tips For Finding The Right Attorney – The Life of Bradley 471

Activism

LIVE! — TOWN HALL ON RACISM AND ITS IMPACT — THURS. 11.14.24 5PM PST

Join us for a LIVE Virtual Town Hall on the Impact of Racism hosted by Post News Group Journalist Carla Thomas and featuring Oakland, CA NAACP President Cynthia Adams & other Special Guests.
Thursday, November 14, 2024, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. PST

Published

5 days ago

November 12, 2024

Oakland Post

Discussion Topics:
• Since the pandemic, what battles have the NAACP fought nationally, and how have they impacted us locally?
• What trends are you seeing concerning Racism? Is it more covert or overt?
• What are the top 5 issues resulting from racism in our communities?
• How do racial and other types of discrimination impact local communities?
• What are the most effective ways our community can combat racism and hate?

Your questions and comments will be shared LIVE with the moderators and viewers during the broadcast.

STREAMED LIVE!
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/PostNewsGroup
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/blackpressusatv
X: twitter.com/blackpressusa

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

Published

1 week ago

November 9, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Reflects on Historic Moment Less Than One Week from Election Day

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.

Published

2 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm:

“As Election Day approaches, I’m reflecting on a few dates and numbers that mean something to me.

Zero: the number of Black members in Congress 56 years ago. Next Congress, we hope to swear in over 60 members in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Three: The number of Black women to ever serve in the United States Senate since the first Congress in 1789.

Two: The number of Black women that will be elected to the Senate this year alone if we do our job.

1972: The first time a Black woman, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, ran for president in one of the major political parties of the United States.

Zero: the number of Black women to ever serve as president of the United States.

IF we do the work, we can change that with President Kamala Harris.

As I reflect on what would be Congresswoman Chisholm’s 100th birthday next month, I could not help but remember that my first official involvement in U.S. politics was working for her presidential campaign in 1972.

Over 50 years later, I have been involved in every single campaign since. Shirley was my mentor — she was a bold visionary, a progressive woman who understood that working together in coalitions was the only way to make life better for everyone, to build an equitable society and democracy that lived up to the creed of “liberty and justice for all.”

The historic moment we are in today is not lost on me. I have had the privilege to have known Vice President Kamala Harris for over three decades. She, after all, is a daughter of the East Bay. She, like Shirley, truly is a fighter for the people.

And I know she can move our country forward in a new way. As a member of her National Advisory Board, I have campaigned across our country to help take her message, her legacy of service, and her “to-do list,” as she says, to voters who were almost starting to feel hopeless, but are now feeling hopeful once again, captured by the politics joy and the bright possibilities brought upon by a possible Harris-Walz administration.

Recently, I visited churches in North Carolina with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The chair of our CBC political action committee, Chairman Gregory Meeks from New York’s fifth district, eloquently and powerfully presented a vision of what Dr. Maya Angelou wrote in her famous poem, “And Still I Rise:” “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Meeks remarked that on Jan. 20, 2025, we will observe the birthday of our drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also described that on Jan. 20, IF we do the work — if we knock on doors, if we make those phone calls, if we spread our message — standing on the podium at the U.S. Capitol will be the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.

In the wings will be over 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Holding Frederick Douglass’ Bible will be the first African American woman appointed to the highest court of the land, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She will be swearing-in the first Black woman to serve as president, Kamala Harris, in front of the shining white dome of the United States Capitol, built by enslaved Black people.

In front of her and beyond, the tens of millions of Black men and women who voted for her. The world will witness the hope and the dreams of our ancestors ushering in a new way forward.

As I sat in front of the stage this week at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Harris delivered remarks with the Oval Office behind her, I could not help but feel that our country was ready for this historic moment.

We are not only voting for a Black woman as Commander in Chief of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. We are definitively stating that we will not allow the clocks of freedom and justice to be turned back.

We are voting for our ancestors’ hopes and dreams. We are voting for the generations that will come after us, long after we are gone. We are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Let’s get this done.