Name: That email asking you to check your California voter information? It’s legit
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That email asking you to check your California voter information? It’s legit

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With the prospect of a virtually all-mail election looming this fall, more than 6 million Californians received an email from the secretary of state this week asking them to check online to make sure their voter registration information is up to date.That sounds like a lot of emails, but California has 20.6 million registered voters, a number larger than the total population of all but two other states. With every active California voter getting a mail ballot for the November presidential contest, election officials need to have updated registration information.“To make sure you get your ballot, we are asking all California voters to double-check their voter registration status at the email said. “You can ensure a smooth voting experience by confirming your mailing address.”These statewide email blasts were sent before the 2018 general election and the March primary and will probably go out again before the Nov. 3 election, state election officials said.“It only takes minutes to check your voter registration and make updates — and it can be done all online,” said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “With expansion of vote-by-mail, it is extra-critical that elections officials have updated addresses for all voters.”One downside to the email notices is that they’re easy for a voter to ignore or put aside as spam. But they are an important part of the and come directly from the secretary of state at the website.People going to the voter status website will be asked for their name, the number on their California driver’s license or their state-issued ID card, the last four digits of their Social Security number and their date of birth.Once signed in, voters can see the name they are registered under, their preferred language for ballots and voting materials, the address where they are registered, party preference and the county where they are registered.If changes are needed, they can be made by clicking a box that allows voters to re-register with their updated information.One change plenty of voters might want to make is adding an email address to their voter registration. The 6.4 million emails sent out this week went only to the voters who provided an email address with their registration data, something that excludes an unknown number of people who registered decades ago.“Email became a field on voter registration forms in 2001,” Mahood said. “It is not required that voters provide an email when they register, (but) we encourage them to provide one so they can receive communications from our office and their local elections office.”The March primary showed just how important an email address can be.In that election, because the envelopes weren’t signed, the one on the registration or there was no ballot in the envelope.Election 2020About Our NewsroomBy state law, voters have a chance to fix those problems and have the ballots counted, even after election day — but only if county officials can get the message to them.Election officials are required to send postcards to voters who have sent in problem ballots. But they can also use email and the phone if they are part of the registration information.“Email addresses do help,” said John Arntz, San Francisco’s election chief. “As a tool to contact voters, it’s one of the best ways.”About half of San Francisco’s 505,000 registered voters supply an email address, well above the state average. But it’s a moving target, Arntz said.“We wish it was higher, but people often call us to ask that their email address be removed,” he said. “Campaigns also use the voting files, so it can mean they get more political emails.”Looking forward to November, when concerns about the coronavirus will limit the number of in-person polling places, state election officials are also asking voters to sign up for the which notifies voters when their mail ballots are received and if there are problems with their ballot.John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:About Our Newsroom

With the prospect of a virtually all-mail election looming this fall, more than 6 million Californians received an email from the secretary of state this week asking them to check online to make sure their voter registration information is up to date.That sounds like a lot of emails, but California has 20.6 million registered voters, a number larger than the total population of all but two other states. With every active California voter getting a mail ballot for the November presidential contest, election officials need to have updated registration information.“To make sure you get your...

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John Wildermuth

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That email asking you to check your California voter information? It’s legit

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