What SoCal voters need to know about the legal battle over mail in ballots

It’s been a busy week with the Trump administration’s legal battle over mail in ballots.

The Supreme Court weighed in and fresh court documents were filed as preparations for the November general election are well underway.

Confused about where things stand? You’re not alone.

One Southern California county tells LAist nothing has happened that changes how it runs elections since last time around in the June primary. And an election law expert says that as of now, people should plan to vote as you normally would.

“If there is some interference with mail in ballots, there are lots of voting centers and other ways that people can cast ballots,” said Rick Hasen, a UCLA professor of law and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project. “But I don't think it's going to come to that.”

As the Nov. 3 general election approaches, local officials are encouraging voters to turn in their ballots early.

Here’s what we know.

Counties deep in election prep

As the legal battle plays out, local election officials are already gearing up for the November general election.

Bob Page, Orange County Registrar of Voters, told LAist his office starts working on an election up to nine months ahead of time, with the first November ballots being printed for overseas and military voters at the end of next week.

County election officials in California will start mailing ballots to all voters by Oct. 5. Page said O.C. will start printing ballots for the 1.9 million local voters the week of Labor Day.

“Those deadlines are set. You can't mess with them,” Page said in a briefing from the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions Wednesday.

A woman casts her ballot at an official Orange County ballot drop box in Santa Ana in October 2020.

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Frederic J. Brown

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Hasen told LAist elections take a really long time to put in place, and something as mundane as envelopes are bought by the millions in counties such as L.A. and Orange. The design of mail in ballot envelopes are part of the new government requirements being challenged in court.

“In California, we now mail ballots to every single voter, so it would be incredibly expensive and difficult to try to change what that mailing would look like,” Hasen said.

In Orange County, for example, ballot envelopes are already in the works. Page noted the U.S. Postal Service approved of the design last month.

What does it mean for local voters?

O.C. will be handling the November election like it did with the June primary, following existing state and federal law, Page said.

“We have to keep track of what's going on in the different courts … But for right now, there's nothing that's happened that changes how we would conduct this election,” he said in an interview.

He also noted that he will make sure O.C. voters get a ballot, “however that gets to them.”

Hasen shared a similar message for voters.

“As of now, nothing has changed,” he said. “And let's wait and see where things are in a week.”

Get your ballots in early

Local election officials, including Page, are encouraging voters to turn in their ballots before Election Day. Ballots can start being processed as soon as they’re returned, so the more people vote early, the more ballots can be included in the first round of results released on election night.

“If there's concerns about the speed at which ballots get counted or processed, the best way to address that for voters … is to vote early,” Page said.

An election clerk holds “I voted” stickers at Beverly Hills City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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Hasen agreed, adding that it’s much better for election administration and voter confidence if more ballots are returned and processed earlier.

O.C. voters will be able return their ballots by mail, to 128 drop boxes and to more than 190 vote centers, according to Page. L.A. County has started to send outreach postcards with early election reminders to most of its more than 5.8 million registered voters as of last week.

What’s going on with the legal battle?

In March, President Donald Trump issued another executive order on voting that he said was to reduce “the risk of fraud.” Trump has claimed for years that there's widespread voter fraud, despite the lack of evidence.

The order, among other things, instructs federal officials to create lists of eligible U.S. citizen voters in each state, directs USPS to only send mail in ballots to people on those lists and have USPS review the design of ballot envelopes.

Parts of the order were blocked in June by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston. The Supreme Court paused that ruling earlier this week, giving what’s been described as an interim win to Trump. The administration saw another win on Wednesday when Talwani lifted her nationwide ruling that blocked USPS from moving forward with the executive order.

“The court cases are coming fast and furious right now after the Supreme Court's ruling,” said Aaron Blacksberg, lead legal analyst on federal policy for the Institute for Responsive Government, during a virtual briefing earlier this week.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and nearly two dozen other attorneys general filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a USPS final rule stemming from the executive order that was released last week.

Bonta argued its “President Trump's latest unlawful attempt to take control of mail voting.” Bonta vowed in a news conference to “fight this every step of the way,” adding that he expected to see other lawsuits from Democratic party leadership and the League of Women Voters.

USPS did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.