Elections officials urge early mail-in voting, warn about 'misinformation'

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SACRAMENTO — State elections officials warned voters Tuesday to send their mail-in ballots in early after changes at the U.S.Postal Service that have led to slower mail service throughout California.Atty.

Gen.Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber said vote-by-mail ballots should be put in the mail at least a week before the June 2 election.

The officials also cast skepticism about social media posts that urge Democrats to vote “late” and to rally around one candidate in order to ensure a Republican doesn’t win.The posts are similar in wording and have spread on Facebook in the last week.

Bonta said the posts, which were brought up by The Times at a news conference in Sacramento, could be “misinformation” or “disinformation” and “potentially unlawful.”“Get your ballot in the mail at least a week early,” he said.“You want to make sure your vote is counted.

And the misinformation that you’re referencing is the misinformation we’re trying to combat.” California A significant number of mail-in ballots arrived too late to be counted in California’s Nov.4 special election for Proposition 50, Gov.

Gavin Newsom’s successful measure to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts, according to state data.Voters using the postal service to mail their ballot within a week of the election should go inside the post office and ask that their ballot be postmarked, or can drop off their ballot at a secure voter box, officials said.The new guidance comes after sweeping changes made by the Postal Service last year that has reduced the number of trips to pick up mail at post offices in mostly rural areas in the country, including California.A Times analysis of last year’s November special election found that there was a significantly higher number of mail-in ballots that arrived too late to be counted compared with the 2024 election.Rural c...