[PR Pond]
Bill O’Neill, El Dorado County’s registrar of voters, is alerting voters who receive a mailed postcard from the El Dorado County Elections Department indicating they are registered as a No Party Preference voter that they may have to re-register.
“We are confident our mailing list of NPP voters is accurate, however, some voters may have had their party preference unknowingly changed as a result of automatic voter registration through the California Department of Motor Vehicles,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill does not know how many voters may have had their party preference changed, but since his office has mailed approximately 30,000 postcards last week, he is urging everyone who receives a postcard to check their party registration and, if they are listed as NPP in error, to re-register with their preferred party so their records are updated before the March 2020 primary.
In 2018 the Department of Motor Vehicles launched its Motor Voter program whereby any qualified voter transacting with the DMV for issues such as updating a driver’s license, ID card or change of address had the option to register unless that person opted out. Some voters may have inadvertently had their party registration changed if they skipped the party preference question. This caused their preference to default to NPP, even if they had previously been registered with a different qualified political party.
Regular registration for the March primary ends Feb. 18, 2020. After that voters may register or re-register at the Registrar of Voters Office or any Vote Center and cast a conditional voter registration provisional ballot; however, the process is streamlined if registration occurs before the Feb. 18 deadline.
“I urge voters who had their party preference changed to NPP to make the needed adjustments no later than the beginning of February to best ensure they receive the ballot of their choice,” O’Neill added.
Voters can check their registration status by visiting voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Early voting at the Registrar of Voters Office will begin on Feb. 3; Vote Centers will open beginning Feb. 22. These new Vote Centers are a central part of the new Voter’s Choice Act being introduced to El Dorado County voters in 2020. Under VCA every voter receives a vote-by-mail ballot along with more days and more ways to cast their ballot at the Vote Centers.
Completing the postcard or voting a crossover ballot does not change a voter’s registered party affiliation. Voters who complete this postcard will continue to be registered as No Party Preference and will have an opportunity to request a crossover ballot in each future presidential primary election.
All requests for new ballots to be mailed must be received not later than Feb. 25, 2020.
