On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted a law that essentially bans hand-counting of votes in most situations. The legislation, known as Assembly Bill 969, takes effect immediately. The bill was crafted by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, as a reaction to actions taken by Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors. Earlier in the year, the board had terminated its contract with Dominion Voting Systems and had instructed its staff to develop a manual ballot-counting process.
Shasta County is scheduled to have a special election on November 7 and had planned an open house for Thursday to demonstrate its new voting and tallying procedures. However, due to the new law, the county is now barred from manually counting votes for the upcoming special election as well as future statewide elections.
Pellerin stated that the legislation is designed to safeguard the integrity, accessibility, and accuracy of elections in California. It sets specific conditions under which manual counts can be conducted, thereby preventing any potential disenfranchisement of voters due to poorly informed decisions by local officials.
The law states that in jurisdictions where more than 1,000 people are registered to vote, manual counts are not allowed on established election dates. On any other dates, manual counts are prohibited if there are more than 5,000 registered voters. It also mandates the use of certified voting systems for both ballot access and vote tabulation, and stipulates that jurisdictions cannot terminate contracts with certified voting systems without having a transition plan and contract for a new system in place.
Manual tabulation of votes provides an auditable paper trail, which can be crucial for verifying the integrity of an election and settling any disputes. Unlike electronic systems, manual counting is not subject to software bugs or glitches that could result in incorrect tabulation. It’s also independent of technology, making it accessible for areas that are rural or underfunded, and it is not vulnerable to the same kinds of cyber attacks that can threaten electronic voting systems.
Pellerin emphasized that the law is a preventive measure against other counties adopting questionable practices influenced by misinformation about elections. It comes in the context of controversy surrounding Dominion Voting Systems, which had been the target of baseless allegations following the 2020 presidential election. Dominion subsequently filed a lawsuit against Fox News and settled for approximately $800 million.
In addition to this, Governor Newsom signed another bill, Senate Bill 616, authored by Senator Lena Gonzales, a Democrat from Long Beach. This law increases the minimum number of annual sick days for workers from three to five and adjusts accrual and carryover limits. Gonzales highlighted that the legislation reflects California’s commitment to safeguarding the health and economic stability of its workforce.
Voting machines are NOT connected to the internet. They could only be “hacked” by someone inside the government system. Maybe we need to say that 1000 more times, not that anyone is listening. I far more trust a machine to accurately count thousands of any paper objects, let alone each with 3 dozen marks on it, than I would a human being — even a well-intentioned one. When was the last time you worked a cash register? How often do you think they tally out 100% accurate? As someone who worked in retail management, I can confirm it’s less than… Read more »
God forbid they install cameras in simple ballot counting vs. machines. We can’t have any changes being made that will interfere in the Nazi Democrat throat hold on California.
Florida really screwed up during the 2000 election, now they have their results like an hour after the polls closed. We’re lucky if we have results in California three weeks later. It’s not fair to the candidates and makes people not trust the system. People should not be allowed to drop ballots in the mail on election day, I think there should be a cut off if you want to mail in your ballot, maybe a week earlier.
Frankly, politicians use to be side stories and now they beliefe they are the second coming. Everyone you loatheed in school is a politician now. The Gov is part of the Demonazi Party.
Interesting that as all the entertainment industries are raging against AI here we have the idiots in California government pushing for it in counting election ballots.
Vote counting machines are not AI. C’mon, pretty sure you’re smarter than that.
If there was no funny business going on in the 2020 election
I don’t know what more they could have done to make it look like there was.
Let’s mail out millions of ballots (I still receive one for the guy who used to rent my apartment 5 years ago), allow ballot harvesting, no ID verification, and stop any process to make elections more secure. Then tell the minions these are the safest, most secure elections. And half the country shakes their head and agrees because CNN said so..
Before the 2020 election on the day I received my ballot in the mail my neighbor’s ballot was also in my box. I gave it to him and he said it didn’t matter because he has never voted in his life. The next day I got a ballot for the girl who once lived in my unit. I could have voted three times, even though two of them would have been fraudulent. With the system as it was in 2020 there is opportunity for massive miscounting. Voting should require effort. It shouldn’t be this easy. Don’t encourage anyone to vote… Read more »
Our mail room floor was scattered with dozens of mail-in ballots anyone could have taken and voted with. You believe signature matching, etc., is actually done? Might one just finally say that California is basically over.
Boy, with all those wacky ballots being sent to so many people just like you, I’m sure America’s mayor Rudy Giuliani will be coming forward any time with the proof that it had any significant influence over that election. Any time now. You really have your finger on the pulse. Totally.
Giuliani bad, You would rather have a crime ridden city than have him and a safe city like NY was when he was mayor. That is why we are in this mess of progressive failure.
I’m trying to remember if you have ever offered anything of substance here and I don’t believe you have.
The feeling is definitely mutual. I’m just here to keep you honest and in your place, some need that type of assistance more than others in their obviously advanced age. Perhaps if you stopped leaning into a mishmash of conspiracy theory, historical inaccuracy and right wing echo chamber material that’s just been recycled all the way to this site under your name, you might see a whole lot less of me.
But what you offer amounts to little more than name calling. You tell me I’m wrong and insult me but that’s where it ends. How about countering my “conspiracy theories and historical inaccuracies” with some substance. I don’t believe you can. It appears you don’t think; you only feel!
The substance is that your voting ballot conspiracy theories have been laughed out of multiple courts and dismissed and debunked by all but the fringe. None of it has any affect on election results and is miniscule at best. Just off the top of my head I’ve had to dismiss your inaccurate comments about books in school libraries and the minimum wage due to your misrepresentations and I’ve gone through it step by step, that’s not mere insults. And if you want to keep up the right wing echo chamber schtick I’ll probably feel like putting you in your place… Read more »
“Echo chamber” can work two ways! I haven’t seen an original thought from you.
We never had an issue before with how we vote. Not until the “mysterious” pandemic. Then, all of a sudden, we have to submit votes differently and in the end, a potato ends up “winning.” Let’s not have a repeat of that.
“Then, all of a sudden, we have to submit votes differently”
What on earth are you talking about? More options for people to vote doesn’t mean you “have” to do anything.
It’s a conshmearamacy, I tells ya!
Now that the State has acted to increase the number of sick days, perhaps West Hollywood should reconsider its’ ten days which does
put WeHo businesses at a disadvantage. It was a noble experiment but it is resulting in fewer jobs and few employment opportunities.
3rd world banana republic state
Seems legit. 🤡 🌎