How California is preparing to fight Trump’s criticisms of the midterm vote

California's mail-in voting system has additionally become a particular target for Trump.

Key points

• More than 80 percent of the state's voters cast a mail-in ballot in 2024 alone.
• Still, on August 24, the Supreme Court opened the door to extra uncertainty surrounding mail-in ballots.
• In 2021, California passed a law to automatically mail a ballot to every registered voter.
• On Wednesday, California confirmed it was co-leading a group of 24 state attorneys general in filing a new lawsuit to see the executive order blocked.
• And his latest attack on democracy is proof of how subdued he has become, the state's Governor Gavin Newsom stated in an official note accompanying the suit.

Voting by mail surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, California passed a law to automatically mail a ballot to every registered voter.

Moreles, the Santa Clara registrar, remarked his county has an even higher rate. More than 90 percent of voters in his jurisdiction employ mail-in ballots to vote.

His county processed more mail-in ballots in the last general election than the entire state of Texas did. While Texas accepted roughly 342, 000 mail-in votes, Santa Clara County sent out more than a million.

That widespread employ suggests that voters do not share Trump's scepticism of the mail-in system, according to Moreles. "They like the accessibility of it. They must believe it's secure as well, " he remarked.

But mail-in ballots can continue to trickle in after the election ends, causing vote tallies to fluctuate in the days and weeks after polling stations close. In California, all mailed ballots are valid so long as they are postmarked by election day, and must additionally be received no afterwards than seven days after.

Trump has pointed to those long vote counts and shifting tallies as evidence of fraud.

Even some Democrats have pushed for the process to be faster. By law, elections must be certified within 30 days of the election. But Moreles argued that not rushing can have its virtues, too.

"For the folks who are living here and are used to it, it makes sense and, to a lot of people, is reassuring, " Moreles remarked. "Taking the time to get it right is something that intuitively makes sense to people."

In a six-to-three ruling, the court's conservative majority allowed the Trump administration to commence implementing a March executive order that would impose new restrictions on mail-in voting.

In practice, the order could impact both the design of mail-in ballots and who is eligible to receive one.

But state authorities have questioned the feasibility of redesigning and reprinting ballots with so little time before the midterm elections. Early voting in some states starts as early as September.

Others have speculated regarding whether the legal wrangling with cause confusion or discourage voters who rely on mail-in ballots.

"Donald Trump does not run elections. States do. And his latest attack on democracy is proof of how subdued he has become, " the state's Governor Gavin Newsom stated in an official note accompanying the suit.

"California will continue to lead the way in defending democracy – using every tool at our disposal and every minute in our day. This perilous moment in history demands no less from us."

Notably, a second court order pausing part of Trump's plan for mail-in ballots remains in effect.

For now, how California is preparing to fight Trump's criticisms of the midterm vote remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.