SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is requiring counties to provide free postage for vote-by-mail ballots statewide.
Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday that he signed the bill requiring that return ballot envelopes have prepaid postage.
Currently, 10 of the state’s 58 counties plan to provide postage ballots for the November election. Counties would bear the cost but they may be able to claim reimbursement from the state.
It would have cost $5.5 million had the law been in place for the 2016 general election. The measure affects elections starting next year.
Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher of San Diego says the bill eliminates a barrier that disproportionately discouraged voting by young adults because they are less likely to regularly use the postal system
If a citizen decides it is not worth the price of a stamp or two to vote, maybe they just don’t care enough to vote. Many people spend much more than that on pop or coffee every day and think nothing of it, how much hardship is it really to spend 50 cents or a dollar, once a year or even less often, for the privilege of voting.
It is a shame that so many people are to lazy to vote. And even more terrible our “honest ” state governments place impediments on voting. The Federal government should guarantee every citizen the right to vote. However, that’s not the way our government works. If the tax payer can finance never ending wars, hand outs to business on wealthfare, and spend 30 million on a military parade in Washington, then they should pay postage for voting!