Update, June 7: Contra Costa County elections officials plan to resume a controversial practice involving vote-by-mail ballots after Tuesday’s primary election.
Original post:
The vast majority of Californians wait until very close to Election Day to submit their ballots, especially those who vote-by-mail. State law protects tardy mail-in voters with two options: postmark the ballot by Election Day or bring it to the polling place.
But a number of Contra Costa County voters registered as "no party preference" were given provisional ballots when they recently tried to turn in their vote-by-mail ballots. Provisional ballots aren't immediately counted on election night. The county has long had this practice, a county spokesman wrote in a statement:
Contra Costa’s long standing and proven practice regarding the re-issuing of ballots to vote by mail voters is:
“When a voter, who has previously been issued a ballot, shows up at a polling place and requests another ballot; that voter, in all cases, will be issued a ballot but it must be cast provisionally.”
Concerned citizens contacted KQED, and we asked the Secretary of State about Contra Costa's policy. A spokesman for the Secretary of State said that such a practice was incorrect. In an email the spokesman told KQED that his office was contacting the county. Shortly after, Contra Costa County announced a change in policy.
Now, voters in Contra Costa County will be able to bring in their vote-by-mail ballots, surrender them, and then receive replacement ballots. People who lost their vote-by-mail ballots will still be able to cast provisional ballots.