I called the office of my member of the California Assembly over the weekend - leaving the message that, with the Postal Service under attack, we in California and across the country need far more ballot drop boxes as Plan B for voting. Below is my response to the answer I received today (Monday, August 17). The answer is that currently at least one drop box is required for each 15,000 registered voters and that should do it! This is no time for kidding. California can lead the effort to ensure that votes are collected and counted in this election - or sit back and let Donald Trump suppress voting and vote-counting so his "base" can subject our nation and the world to 4 more years of insanity. Gary Wesley, resident of Mountain View CA 94040 (gary.wesley_at_(domainremoved) ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Gary Wesley To: Bulbuk, Leslie Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020, 05:19:45 PM PDT Subject: Re: Your voicemail to Assemblymember Marc Berman Thanks. But 1 drop box for each 15,000 registered voters will not be enough when the post office is closed or no longer reliable. Gary Wesley On Monday, August 17, 2020, 03:37:13 PM PDT, Bulbuk, Leslie Hello Mr. Wesley, I received your voicemail a little while ago, and since you have an email in our voter database, I thought I would send you info on your question. The issue of the president diminishing the effectiveness of the USPS in time for the General Election is a big one. By virtue of being counties that are participating in the Voter’s Choice Act, along with 12 other counties in the state, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties will likely not feel much impact. Here’s additional info on the Voter’s Choice Act: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voters-choice-act/about-vca/ One of the stipulations of the Voter’s Choice Act is that “Starting 28 days before Election Day there would be at least one drop-off location for every 15,000 registered voters.” Additionally, SB 423, authored by Senator Umberg and Assemblymember Berman, which was passed by both houses of the Legislature, and signed into law by the Governor on August 6th, puts these same stipulations regarding ballot collection boxes in place in the rest of the state as well. I’ve attached the Senate Floor Analysis to this email for your reference, since the actual bill language does not clearly state this. As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting, Asm. Berman also introduced AB 860, which states: “would require county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election.” Previously voters had to request vote by mail ballots, but this law stipulates that every Californian will receive a vote by mail ballot, which they can then either mail, hopefully VERY early, or drop off at a ballot box near them. AB 860 was passed by the Legislature on June 18th, and signed into law by the Governor that same day. I hope this information helps to ease your mind regarding this issue. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. Regards, Leslie Bulbuk On behalf of Asm. Marc Berman -- Leslie Bulbuk Senior Field Representative Office of Asm. Marc Berman 5050 El Camino Real, Ste. 117 Los Altos, CA 94022 650.691.2121 phone 650.691.2120 fax Received on Tue Aug 18 2020 - 00:12:09 PDT
