California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber this week called on state residents to know their voting rights in the upcoming election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The election will be held on September 14 under rules similar to those for the November 2020 election, with all registered voters receiving a ballot in the mail.

Roughly 18 million residents voted in that election, Bonta said on August 16, which represented more than 80% of the state’s registered voters. 

“No matter your political party or who you vote for, at the California Department of Justice we stand ready to do our part to continue to protect your right to vote in our state,” Bonta said. “As we do our job, we need you to do yours … now’s the time to make your voice heard.”

Bonta and Weber noted that the state’s voters are protected by the California Voter Bill of Rights, which guarantees not only the right to vote even if not registered on an election day, but also the rights to get a new ballot if a mistake is made, get election materials in languages other than English and report illegal election activity.

The full Voter Bill of Rights can be found at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-bill-rights.

“We will not tolerate anyone who stands in the way of any Californian — one person or 100 people — and their right to vote,” Weber said. “It is just that sacred.”

The Secretary of State’s office offers a toll-free, confidential hotline voters can use to report election fraud or illegal activity at (800) 345-VOTE (8683). 

State residents can register to vote by August 30 to receive a mail-in ballot before the election. People who register after August 30 will be given a provisional ballot, which will be counted as a standard vote once the registration process is completed. 

Each county will have official ballot drop boxes that can accept ballots up to and including election day. 

California residents can register to vote at https://registertovote.ca.gov.

Christy Price

Posts by Christy Price