SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Friday that would allow all of California's voters to cast their ballots by mail to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
County elections officials are sending out the vote-by-mail ballots before the general election on Nov. 3, according to the governor's office.
"Elections and the right to vote are foundational to our democracy," said Governor Newsom in a press release. "No Californian should be forced to risk their health to exercise their right to vote."
The California GOP is warning that sending millions of ballots through the mail could lead to abuse, calling the state's already-in-use program, which automatically registers certain people to vote.
"To mail out millions of ballots to voter rolls that have proven to contain alarming errors is not a task that these Democrats can adequately manage or safely execute," said California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson. "We need more assurances that this election will be safe, fair and monitored to ensure the accurate and timely results Californians deserve."
In the state's March 3 primary, more than 9,680,000 people voted — a 38% voter turnout, according to California's Secretary of State's office.
Newsom said he hopes the state could be able to work with county health officials to come up with a safe way for those who can't cast their votes by mail.
According to the governor's office, the legislature and Secretary of State Alex Padilla are working with the administration to figure out how they could hold in-person elections that would allow social distancing.
Currently, the state's in-person voting system varies by county.
Padilla said in a press release that California is the first state to come up with a plan to address how to hold elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are meeting our obligation to provide an accessible, secure, and safe election this November," Padilla said. "Sending every registered voter a ballot by mail is smart policy and absolutely the right thing to do during this COVID-19 pandemic."
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