California AG Rob Bonta contends 'mail-in voting is safe'

(The Center Square) - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking to reassure voters that the Nov. 3 general election will proceed as "business as usual," while drawing a hard line against potential federal intervention and election interference.

Speaking Monday at a press conference in Sacramento, Bonta emphasized that mail-in ballots are already being distributed across California's 58 counties. The Democratic attorney general also highlighted the state's legal victories against the Trump administration, including a U.S. Supreme Court decision protecting mail-in voting after legal challenges involving the U.S. Postal Service.

"Mail-in voting is safe. Mail-in voting is secure. Mail-in voting helps ensure that Californians can conveniently participate in our elections free of unnecessary barriers," Bonta told reporters.

That assertion, however, is met with sharp disagreement from critics who argue that relaxed mail-in procedures invite vulnerabilities.

Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, dismissed Bonta's claims regarding security.

"Bonta's claim that mail voting in California is 'safe and secure' when the state has no ID requirement, refuses to verify the citizenship of registered voters and has one of the most inaccurate, mistake-ridden voter registration lists in the country is laughable," said von Spakovsky, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a member of the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and a former member of both President Donald Trump's Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and the Federal Election Commission.

Von Spakovsky pointed to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's report on the 2024 election, noting that of the nearly 67 million mail ballots sent out nationwide by states such as California and Oregon, only 72% were completed and returned.

"Bonta and state election officials have no idea what happened to the remaining ballots, whether voters just decided not to complete them or whether they were misdelivered, delayed in the mail or otherwise lost," von Spakovsky told The Center Square on Monday.

He noted further that nearly 600,000 returned ballots were rejected nationwide, with roughly 18% discarded for missing deadlines — issues that do not affect in-person voting.

Despite those criticisms, Bonta and voting rights advocates continue to push back against federal measures they view as coercive or suppressive. Bonta addressed concerns regarding potential federal election monitors or unauthorized armed presence at polling locations, pointing to strict federal and state prohibitions against the deployment of armed personnel, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at voting stations.

Concerns about ICE agents being at polling places have been raised for months.

"President Trump wants to send armed federal agents into polling places this election," Orlando Economos, senior staff attorney at Democracy Forward, said in a Sept. 30 video post on X. "That's illegal, and it breaks 150-year-old statute to do it."

Democracy Forward is representing a coalition of plaintiffs in challenging the idea in court.

"Over the past year, the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to send armed federal agents, including ICE agents, to polling places," said Economos. "When pressed about it, they refused to confirm that they won't send them to the ballot box this fall."

Economos went on to state that "this is not about immigration enforcement," but rather "voter suppression" throughout the country.

Bonta framed civic participation as an active duty, drawing from his own family's history as immigrants from the Philippines fleeing an authoritarian regime.

"Democracy is not self-executing. It doesn't just happen on its own. It functions best, and it requires participation, engagement, activism," said Bonta, who was born in Quezon City, Philippines.

Bonta further criticized federal spending on political messaging, pointing to national ad campaigns funded by federal tax dollars during the voting window.

"This is a shameless administration," Bonta said about the Trump White House. "Will they follow the law or not of their own accord based on what they've done so far, where we've had to take them to court 97 times when they've broken the law? I doubt it, but that's what regulators are for."

The Center Square sought comment Monday from the White House, but did not hear back by publication time.

Meanwhile, state election authorities encourage voters to verify their registration status, utilize secure drop boxes, or mail ballots at least a week prior to Election Day.

Bonta said that voters suspecting irregularities can contact county election officials or the California Secretary of State's confidential voter hotline, which is 800-345-VOTE in English. Other hotline numbers in various languages are at www.sos.ca.gov.