And so it begins. Happy Election Day! Chrissa Olson here, gearing up for a long night of election coverage. But first, let me tell you about this conversation with Monterey County Registrar of Voters Gina Martinez, so long as you pinky promise me to read the next three paragraphs first.
If you haven’t already, here’s how to vote today:
The sun is setting early but the polls aren’t—they close sharp at 8pm, but if you’re in line, you won’t get kicked out.
To vote in person or to find where you can drop off your ballots, pop your address into this California Secretary of State website.
OK, that is all.
Back to a story I have been covering: When two federal agents pulled up to the front desk of the Registrar of Voters last week to demand the personal information of names they claimed were illegally on voter rolls, county officials across California recoiled.
It immediately raised red flags here in Monterey County, where Martinez told me the letter from the feds was downright confusing.
While it was hand-delivered to the front desk, it wasn’t delivered directly into her hands, like a typical legal notice. Most names that the DOJ demanded more information from weren’t even registered, had already been canceled, were already going to be canceled, or simply didn’t exist.
One entry even had a 2037 birthdate.
“The timing of this is such that it’s in the middle of the election—we’ve already started processing ballots,” Martinez says. “Voter registration has come and gone. The timing is questionable.”
To clarify, some voter roll data is already public—voter rolls are available to valid requesters who submit an application: That’s how political consulting firms, the media and political parties get your data, and why you’re probably getting a blitz of text messages right now.
In that case, California can legally give out birthdays, voting histories, addresses and contact information. But the things that the DOJ asked for, like driver’s licenses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and state IDs, are confidential.
The Trump administration took the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, asking it to allow them to force California to set aside the ballots of people they thought were not citizens. SCOTUS flitted it away within a few hours.
The DOJ’s actions put some people on edge—Martinez has been getting calls from naturalized citizens afraid somebody is going to show up at their door. County Counsel Susan Blitch called the letter straight-up voter intimidation.
“I tell them, ‘Vote. Take action,’” Martinez says. “That’s the most significant action you can take: to vote.”
She’s concerned this will distract from the real goal: getting people out to vote, and paying attention to important deadlines. But she doesn’t think it’ll impact voter turnout—with mail-in ballots, early voting and several locations open on Election Day, she believes California’s rules have afforded voters many avenues to vote.
So whether you’re invested in the election because you care about democracy, you’re invested in a local measure or candidate, or simply because this is your nerd Super Bowl, happy Election Day.
Get out there and vote.