The system of collecting and counting votes in California is complex and full of inconsistencies. This is compounded by the state’s increasingly diverse population. Kim Alexander, President of the non-profit, non-partisan California Voter Foundation, says the problems lead many voters to question the integrity of election results.
“I think what we’re seeing in this election is a combination of factors. One is a big increase in the number of people who are signed up as vote-by-mail voters, whether they realize it or not; and two, we have a growing percentage of people who are independents, what we call no party preference, who have the right to cross over and vote a partisan ballot in some races like the Democratic presidential primary. But those rules are not always clearly and equally explained to voters.”
Alexander admits that the vote-by-mail system appears to invite voter fraud.
“I agree that there are a lot of vulnerabilities with the vote-by-mail system. I don’t think there’s actual ballot security issues but I understand why there is the perception that there is. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at it from the election officials’ perspective and how they administer elections, I know how diligently and carefully they check signatures and that they unfortunately discard a lot of ballots for mismatching signatures, often from people who just didn’t take the time to sign carefully and are lawfully cast votes. One of the things we worry about is the high number of vote-by-mail ballots that are rejected because the voters make mistakes. They forget to sign the envelope so the signature is not able to be verified because there’s no signature there or that they don’t sign it the way that it’s signed on their registration form.”
Alexander wants the state government to provide counties with ongoing financial support to cover the cost of running elections and provide counties with the most up-to-date and reliable equipment.
“Without the state providing funding and with it the requirement that counties abide by uniform statewide practices in the elections process, I’m afraid that we’re going to continue to see uneven access and unequal treatment of voters.”
Kim Alexander was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show with Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
By Sandy Wells