Cracking Down on Vote-By-Mail Misinformation

SACRAMENTO – As a record number of voters in California and across the nation prepare to cast vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots in the November 3, 2020, General Election, the amount of mis-information about people’s VBM rights also appears to be at an all-time high.  Putting an end to that misinformation – and prosecuting people who intentionally attempt to suppress the rights of VBM voters – is the goal of SB 739 (Stern), which has been signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom and will take effect immediately.

“If you’re putting out tweets, Facebook posts or using social and other types of media to intentionally mislead voters about their right and ability to vote by mail, that’s now a crime and it’s my hope local DAs and the state Attorney General will go after violators the moment they see them,” said Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles).  “In the midst of this worldwide pandemic, it is imperative that voters, especially those who are getting a vote-by-mail ballot for the first time, know their rights and are getting accurate, reliable information.”

SB 739 (Stern) makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally mislead a voter about his or her right to apply for, receive, or return a vote-by-mail ballot. This builds on a California law that makes it a misdemeanor for a person to distribute any information in an attempt to deceive voters about where their polling place is located and about the qualifications to register to vote. 

“The spread of misinformation and disinformation are enormous threats to our elections. Voting by mail is a critical component of our plans to keep our elections accessible, secure, and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained Secretary of State, Alex Padilla. “We need to discourage and combat election disinformation that could disenfranchise citizens. Our democracy depends on it.”

“Every single day, there are people in this country doing everything they can to cast doubt on and undermine the ability of people to vote and to vote by mail,” continued Stern.  “I am tired of seeing social media be weaponized in an attempt to undermine our democracy.  This new law will go after people who use social media and other avenues to confuse, mislead, and lie to California voters. Democracy is too fragile to allow reckless disinformation campaigns to compromise the right of anyone to cast his or her ballot.”

According to the Secretary of State, nearly 60% of California’s voters are already registered as permanent vote-by-mail (PVBM) voters, meaning they are automatically sent a vote-by-mail ballot before each election.  Under California law, any voter can request a vote-by-mail ballot before any election, but this year, rather than wait for voters to request a ballot,  those non-PVBM voters will automatically be sent a vote-by-mail ballot as a result of AB 860 (Berman), which became law earlier this year.

As an urgency measure, SB 739 takes effect immediately and is now in place before vote-by-mail ballots are sent to California voters for the November 3, 2020, General Election.  The bill passed the Senate and Assembly on bi-partisan 32-0 and 72-1 votes, respectively, in August. 

SB 739 is supported by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the California Clean Money Campaign, the California League of Conservation Voters, and the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials.

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Related Files: cracking_down_on_vote-by-mail_misinformation.pdf