California Senate panel OKs bill helping overseas voters

By Madeline Shannon
The Center Square

Active-military voters stationed overseas, as well as expats, could more easily submit their ballots in elections if Senate Bill 970 passes in the California Legislature.

The bill would require the California secretary of state to institute new rules that make voting more secure when voters submit their ballots from overseas, according to a legislative analysis.

The Assembly Elections Committee on Wednesday approved the bill 6-0. The legislation will now go to a hearing by the Assembly Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside and author of the bill, testified during the Assembly Elections Committee meeting that the bill was timely because in 2025, federal officials ended a fax service that voters overseas used to cast their ballots on time.

The Department of Defense Fax Service was the fastest – and sometimes only – way military voters stationed overseas or American citizens living abroad can participate in elections back home.

“Unfortunately, in August of 2025, the federal government announced that FVAP [the Federal Voting Assistance Program] would be discontinuing the D.O.D. fax service,” Cervantes testified Wednesday morning. “In last November’s statewide special election, many of these voters had logistical issues either receiving their ballots at all or receiving their ballots by mail in time to be counted.”

The problem was made worse by the U.S. Postal Service announcing on June 12 that mail would no longer be delivered to certain countries. Those countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, Bhutan, Cuba, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Seychelles, Sudan, South Sudan, Turkmenistan and Yemen, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s alerts page. Many of the countries have U.S. military bases, Cervantes testified.

“We have large numbers of American military personnel deployed overseas in the ongoing conflict with Iran,” Cervantes told the committee. “California must step up and ensure military and overseas voters from our state can retain the ability to exercise our sacred right to vote.”

According to Cervantes, the changes from the U.S. Department of War and the U.S. Postal Service run counter to a long history of federal laws that have historically only expanded access to military and overseas voters trying to vote in elections back in the states. The 1944 Soldier Voting Rights Act allowed active-duty military voters to cast absentee ballots while stationed overseas or in other parts of the country far away from their hometowns.

That was followed in 1955 by a law that created the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

The program was created to ensure that eligible American voters living anywhere in the world are aware of their right to vote and that they have the tools to do so. The program requires states to send military and overseas voters their requested absentee ballots no later than 45 days before a federal election.

However, that long lead time doesn’t always ensure that eligible voters are able to get and cast their ballots in time, according to James Kus, Fresno County clerk and registrar of voters.

“Fresno County has had to reject four voters because we received their ballot after the seven-day window,” Kus testified on Wednesday on behalf of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. “That includes one voter who mailed it on May 20 in Canada, and we didn’t receive it until June 12. So this is an ongoing issue that we very much hope we can get a solution found in time for the 2028 presidential cycle.”

Despite the widespread support from county elections officials and Assembly members on the committee, at least one state official felt the bill needed to be amended before passage.

“The bill does not define what qualifies as a secure ballot return method, nor does it establish ay specific requirements or standards,” Tim Cromartie, legislative affairs staffer for the deputy secretary of state, testified on Wednesday. “Today we have consensus on both the existence of a problem regarding military and overseas voters and the need to take action in light of the defunding of the DOD fax service.”

However, there isn’t consensus on what actions state officials should take, Cromartie told lawmakers. “The current version of the bill provides direction that is vague, at best, in terms of what regulations would look like and what is needed.”

The bill is making its way through the California Legislature following the U.S. Supreme Court’s taking up of a voting rights case concerning military voters, Watson vs. Republican National Committee.

According to previous reporting by The Center Square, the highest court in the nation could decide to eliminate grace periods for military and overseas voters trying to participate in elections. While a decision is expected at any time, it does not appear that the justices have made a ruling in that case, according to SCOTUSblog.

The Supreme Court’s current term is expected to end in late June or early July.

Officials from the Department of War and the U.S. Postal Service did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment before publication time on Wednesday.

Voting rights organizations, including Secure Democracy, Veterans for All Voters and Secure Families Initiative, also did not respond to The Center Square.