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HR-105 (2019-2020)

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HR105:v99#DOCUMENT

Revised  August 27, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

House Resolution
No. 105

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Kalra, Kamlager, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O’Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, and Wood)

August 24, 2020

Relative to vote by mail and the November 3, 2020, general election.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


HR 105, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer.
WHEREAS, The COVID-19 global pandemic has taken the lives of over 160,000 people in the United States and over 11,000 in California, including 5.2 million confirmed cases nationwide and over 600,000 in California; and
WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic severely limits the public’s ability to do in-person activities, so providing vote by mail as an alternative to voting in-person for the November 3, 2020, general election is critical to protecting public health and safety; and
WHEREAS, California will mail every registered voter in the state a vote by mail ballot for the November 3, 2020, general election to allow voters to safely exercise their constitutional right to vote; and
WHEREAS, California and states all across the nation are encouraging voters to mail their completed ballots via the United States Postal Service in order to avoid long lines, extended waiting, and most importantly person-to-person contact; and
WHEREAS, Voting by mail is a standard and reliable practice in elections in California and all across the nation by voters including the current President of the United States and his senior staff; and
WHEREAS, The survival of our democracy and national security relies on fair and free elections for all eligible voters; and
WHEREAS, The federal administration runs the risk of a compromised election if the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate refuses to provide adequate relief funding to the United States Postal Service, on which we will rely to deliver vote by mail ballots to county elections officials; and
WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service cannot support the delivery of millions of ballots nationwide without immediate adequate relief funding and support from the federal administration; and
WHEREAS, The federal administration has undercut the viability of our elections system by underfunding the United States Postal Service, threatening to end overtime delivery of mail, and removing mailboxes and sorting machines from communities all across the country ahead of the election; and
WHEREAS, Mailboxes in California have been removed or locked in numerous communities across the state; and
WHEREAS, The Postmaster General’s recent announcements to limit postal worker overtime, close mail sorting facilities, and reduce retail hours at some post office locations perilously erode public trust in voting by mail and our elections systems, and would needlessly increase the threat of COVID-19 exposure from voting in-person; and
WHEREAS, The federal administration’s limitations to the United States Postal Service will increase the demand for in-person voting in California counties unprepared to deal with the challenges of an election during a global pandemic and dangerously disadvantage communities of color by creating unnecessary hurdles to voting; and
WHEREAS, It is imperative to fully protect and support the operations and postal carriers of the United States Postal Service in order to facilitate a safe, secure, and uncorrupted national election on November 3, 2020; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly urges the federal administration and the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate to cease and desist from all efforts to reduce the ability of voters to cast their ballots by mail or diminish public confidence in the vote by mail program as it relates to the November 3, 2020, general election; and be it further
Resolved, That the Assembly urges United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately restore all mailboxes and mail sorters back to the communities from which they were removed in order to guarantee the timely and efficient delivery of vote by mail ballots in the November 3, 2020, general election; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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REVISIONS:
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