As the chair of Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, 2020 brought unique challenges to our committee's work COVID-19 upended the legislature's process and dramatically altered our priorities for the remainder of the 2019-20 legislative session California held its Primary Election on March 3, 2020 At the time, there were very few confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state Unfortunately, COVID-19 was not contained, the positivity rate spiked, and California needed to modify how the state conducts its elections to confront the ongoing challenges of the pandemic This resulted in a collaborative legislative effort with Assemblymember Marc Berman, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting, aimed at mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on California's November General Election 1 This included ways to provide greater access through voting by mail while maintaining sensible and safe in-person voting options Legislation also addressed the long-term effects of COVID-19 on census and redistricting deadlines 2
Election Law Changes as a Result of Covid-19