The concerns generated over mail-in voting could lead to ballots being counted more quickly in California’s upcoming mid-terms. While the Trump administration tried to change how people vote by mail, California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber and County Registrars urged people to cast ballots in-person or put them in a dropbox to avoid problems with ballots.
Local voters still have concerns about vote-by-mail
The changes would have required the state and local elections officials to redesign and reprint ballots and allow the United States Postal Service to reject ballots that did not meet certain requirements.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court struck down the proposed changes and mail-in voting in California remains intact.
"Voters will be able to cast their ballots without uncertainty, without hesitation, and without fear that their voices will be questioned or their ballots rejected," said Weber.
But that has not changed people’s voting plans around the Inland Empire. According to KVCR interviews with voters across the region, many people still plan to avoid using the USPS.
‘Results more quickly’
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, said there’s a welcome consequence to that.
"The more ballots we can get returned early, returned as in-person ballots, the more we'll get our results more quickly,” said Alexander.
She said registrars can count ballots faster if they have them in-hand on election day. Historically ballots mailed that day have contributed to California’s slow vote count, added Alexander.
San Bernardino County Assistant Registrar of Voters Justin White said that’s exactly why the county is encouraging people to vote early.
“We get almost 50% of our vote-by-mail ballots back on election day. If we can get those ballots back earlier, we can count them quicker,” said White. “They can be included in election night results, and that will slow or lessen the amount of time it takes for us to complete the process of counting all ballots.”
Important dates for 2026 General Election
Ballots will be mailed out to voters starting Oct. 5. Ballot drop-off boxes for vote-by-mail ballots will be open from Oct. 6 to Nov. 3. Oct. 19 is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 election. Same Day Registration is available at early voting sites where voters can "conditionally" register and vote a provisional ballot.