{"id":38875,"date":"2021-08-18T13:24:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T20:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=38875"},"modified":"2021-08-18T13:24:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T20:24:39","slug":"as-you-prepare-to-vote-in-recall-election-know-your-rights-say-california-state-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=38875","title":{"rendered":"AS YOU PREPARE TO VOTE IN RECALL ELECTION, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, SAY CALIFORNIA STATE OFFICIALS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by\u00a0Jaya Padmanabhan<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Aug 18, 2021<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Voting Rights<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Also available in\u00a0Chinese<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By Jaya Padmanabhan<\/strong><\/p>\n

At a time when\u00a0eighteen states have enacted 30 laws<\/a>\u00a0that will make it harder for Americans to vote, California\u2019s voter bill of rights expands voting access\u00a0in order to increase voter participation.<\/p>\n

As the ballots for the recall of Governor Newsom arrive at mailboxes across the state,\u00a0 California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber reminded all Californians to get out and vote at a virtual news briefing on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure every Californian votes because this is an important decision like every decision we make in an election,\u201d said Weber. She remarked on the irony of being the daughter of sharecroppers who were denied voting rights and holding the position today of ensuring free, fair and accessible elections across California.<\/p>\n

Bonta urged all Californians to review the voting protections that the state has in place, \u201cto know your\u00a0rights\u00a0and make a plan today for casting your ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

California\u2019s voter bill of rights, an\u00a0adaptation of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, was modified in the last six years to use simpler language in order to ensure that voters found it easy to read and understand.<\/p>\n

These rights are on the\u00a0Secretary of State\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0and can also be found in the Voter Information Guide sent to every voting household as well as posted at polling sites on election day, in this case September 14, 2021.<\/p>\n

There are ten rights granted to each voter or potential voter in California.<\/p>\n

The right to vote if you are a registered voter.<\/strong>\u00a0If you are a U.S. citizen, above the age of 18, residing in California, and registered to vote, then you have the right to cast your ballot. The exceptions are those who are convicted of a felony and currently in state or federal prison, or found mentally incompetent to vote by a court.<\/p>\n

The right to vote if you are a registered voter even if your name is not on the list.<\/strong>\u00a0The list here refers to a registered voter list, and even if your name is not on the list, you will be allowed to vote using a provisional ballot and your vote will be counted if it is established that you are eligible to vote.<\/p>\n

The right to vote if you are still in line when the polls close.<\/strong>\u00a0If you arrived to join a line before polls close, then by rights you are entitled to cast your ballot. Just do not get out of line.<\/p>\n

The right to cast a secret ballot.<\/strong>\u00a0Who you vote for is your business. And you have the right to maintain the privacy of your ballot without any harassment or intimidation from anyone trying to influence your vote. Even if it\u2019s a poll worker, don\u2019t let anyone interfere with how you vote or persuade you that they need to observe you while voting.<\/p>\n

The right to get a new ballot if you have made a mistake.<\/strong>\u00a0If a mistake was made, and you have not already cast your ballot, ask the election official at your polling place for a new ballot, exchange your mail-in ballot for a new one at an elections office or polling place, or use a provisional ballot.<\/p>\n

The right to get help casting your ballot.<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, you have the right to ask for help, except from your employer or union representative, but you are not compelled to take any advice meted out.<\/p>\n

The right to drop off your completed vote-by-mail ballot at any polling place.<\/strong>\u00a0This can be at any polling site across the state.<\/p>\n

The right to get election materials in a language other than English.<\/strong>\u00a0There are state language access requirements for each county. If enough people in your precinct speak the language, then you have the right to ask for a ballot in that language. These language access options vary from county to county. Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, Punjabi, Hmong, Syriac, Armenian, Persian, and Arabic are some of the languages covered in designated counties.<\/p>\n

The right to ask questions to elections officials about election procedures.<\/strong>\u00a0If you are unsure about how to proceed in order to cast your ballot, seek the help of an election officer present at your polling place. If that person cannot answer your question then they must find you the right person to answer your question. Be considerate of other voters when you seek help.<\/p>\n

The right to report any illegal or fraudulent election activity.<\/strong>\u00a0If you witness behavior that prevents you or anyone else from casting a ballot, report it to an elections official or the Secretary of State\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s voting protections are more expansive than many other states. Nevada, Oregon, New York, Florida, for example, do not include the vote by mail ballot or the language access options in their bill of rights. New Mexico, in addition, does not include a replacement ballot if a mistake was made.<\/p>\n

Bonta and Weber reiterated that their offices are committed to ensuring that the gubernatorial recall election is safe, with COVID-19 protections in place, and accessible to all voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo 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 \u2014 regardless of party \u2014 to cast their ballot,\u201d\u00a0said Weber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first line of defense is you,\u201d Bonta said, and a big part of that is knowing your rights when it comes to voting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Jaya Padmanabhan\u00a0|\u00a0Aug 18, 2021\u00a0|\u00a0Voting Rights Also...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38876,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38875\/revisions\/38876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}