BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The 2024 election cycle is well underway, and in California, voters may be able to return their vote-by-mail ballots in person.

In fact, voters in some counties, like Fresno and Tulare, have already participated via this new method for the March 5 Presidential Primary Election.

Assembly Bill 626 was introduced by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, chair of the California Assembly’s Elections Committee and former chief elections official in Santa Cruz County.

Experts said the new law is to make voting more accessible and speed up vote counting.

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“To return a vote by mail ballot to an in-person voting location, and that [voters] don’t have to place that ballot in the identification envelope in certain circumstances,” Chris Micheli, adjunct professor at the McGeorge School of Law, discussing what the law does.

The main “circumstance” is that in-person voting locations must be connected to their county elections network to verify the identity of the voter and ensure each only votes once.

This is done in real-time through devices like an electronic poll book, an online record of county voters including names, address and signatures. An e-poll book also shows poll workers if someone trying to vote in person has already voted by mail.

Since COVID-19, every registered California voter is mailed a vote-by-mail ballot. These “VBM” ballots are then returned via mail or dropped off at ballot drop boxes.

But the ballots must be enclosed in a signed identification envelope, with the voter’s signature on the outside. If this signature doesn’t match what’s on file at the county’s election office, the ballot may end up not being counted.

For voters, AB 626 eliminates the need for an identification envelope, but not signature verification, as Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus explained to 17 News.

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Kus said those dropping off vote-by-mail ballots in-person are treated just like those voting in person. Thus, they’re asked their names, address, signatures and more.

Fresno County implemented AB 626 for the March primary election. Kern County Elections declined an interview request.

Voter Tom Pavich said he voted the AB 626-way in Tulare County.

“I walked in, identified myself, and I was in and out of the precinct within two minutes at the most,” said Tom Pavich, Kern County Coordinator, Election Integrity Project California

Pavich added, “[Through AB 626], voters could vote in the privacy of their homes, fill out their ballot at their own pace and bring that ballot into the precinct where they’re supposed to vote.”

During a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, the county shared that Kern County could not meet the “statutory requirements” in time to implement AB 626 for the primary election. Part of that had to do with the county’s e-poll book system.

“But tell us why it wasn’t implemented because there were a lot of disappointed people here in Kern that attempted to vote that way and without an explanation,” Pavich said, noting his frustration with the lack of clarity by the Elections Office.

AB 626 is designed to quicken the vote counting process.

Kim Alexander, president and founder of the California Voter Foundation, said more people vote by mail than in person.

Therefore, the quicker mail-in ballots are cast, the more can be counted before Election Day. That would also mean more results are available quicker.

“It’s very difficult for our elections officials to process and prepare election night vote counts on time due to the thousands of mail ballots that are returned either by mail or by drop box,” said Micheli.

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Alexander added, “[That results] in a mountain of ballots that have to be processed, signatures verified … It’s incredibly labor intensive, and that’s why it takes a while to get our election results in California now.”

Alexander also pointed out the differences in elections by county.

For instance, there are “Voter’s Choice Act” counties, meaning those that have vote centers, provide countywide voting and are already linked to county election headquarters, as Alexander said. The elections expert noted such counties are better equipped to implement AB 626.

“Their voting sites are open starting ten days before election day, so it’s not just a single day people can go in there and return their ballots in this way,” Alexander added of Voter’s Choice Act counties.

Kern is not one of those counties. Instead, we have traditional polling sites and central tabulation, meaning all ballots must be counted at Kern’s election headquarters.

“We have a long way to go before we are gonna be at a point where every county could provide the service to voters,” said Alexander.

She recommended counties like Kern provide an option to drop off VBM ballots in person at county elections offices, stating that such would eliminate the limitation  voters face of waiting until Election Day to vote in person.

All 58 California counties have the discretion to implement AB 626.

Kern was one of several counties unable to implement the new law for the March primary.

Kern Elections said in a statement to 17 News: “We will have a process in place by November to accommodate the provisions of AB 626.”

Micheli said counties would incur additional costs but can be reimbursed by the state.

He also underscored the importance of voter education: “Once a jurisdiction utilizes its discretion, then it’s going to have to educate voters that this option is available to them.”

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