“Bernie Sanders supporters sue to have California’s voter registration extended until election day”

LAT:

A federal lawsuit alleging widespread confusion over California’s presidential primary rules asks that voter registration be extended past Monday’s deadline until the day of the state’s primary election on June 7.

“Mistakes are being made,” said William Simpich, an Oakland civil rights attorney who filed the lawsuit Friday.

At issue is whether voters understand the rules for the presidential primary, which differ from those governing other elections in California….

Neal Kelley, registrar of voters in Orange County and president of the state association of elections officials, said that about 23% of his county’s “no party preference” voters have asked for partisan ballots. And he said that the outreach effort was carefully planned.

“Counties have been gearing up for this for well over a year,” Kelley said.

While he would not comment on the allegations contained in the federal lawsuit, Kelley said it’s not possible for elections officials to register voters on election day. California has plans to move to a “same-day registration” system in 2018 after certifying its new statewide voter database.

In the meantime, the current elections process relies on paper documents at each polling place listing eligible voters.

“The infrastructure’s not in place,” said Kelley.

Share this: