Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

This past session, the California State Legislature made additional pro-voter improvements to its elections laws. It passed legislation to expedite processing of election results and ensure all timely mailed ballots are counted. However, the Assembly failed to pass legislation to upgrade its existing online voter registration system to allow eligible individuals that lack a California DMV-issued ID the opportunity to register online. Therefore, California received a B+ on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where California Started at the Beginning of 2025

• Automatic Voter Registration: Hard Stop
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: Yes
• Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: No Document Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for California as of 2024, we considered the state a top tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2025 activity against other top tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 7th
• EPI Score (2022): 45th

2025: This Past Year

Legislative Action

For yet another session, the California Legislature approved several bills that made positive changes to a wide range of election-related processes.

• AB 16 allows elections officials to begin processing vote by mail ballots as soon as they are received. Prior law only allowed processing to begin 29 days before the election.
• AB 5 requires election officials to count and publicly report vote tallies within 13 days after an election.
• AB 287 requires public agencies that provide public building space for vote centers or polling locations to also provide accessible and curbside parking, as well as storage space for election supplies.
• AB 827 aims to speed up the vote count by shortening the deadline for election officials to notify voters of signature defect issues with ballots to no later than 14 days after a statewide election. It also shortens the deadline for voters to cure defects to 22 days after a statewide election.
• AB 930 extends the mail ballot receipt deadline in vote-by-mail elections to 7 days after the election. Prior law required ballots to be returned within 3 days after the election.
• AB 1072 requires the secretary of state, in consultation with county election officials, to develop uniform standards and guidelines for how a voter can cure their ballot.
• SB 3 revises the mail ballot cure process to ensure uniformity and fairness in the process. It requires the secretary of state to provide uniform signature cure forms that counties must utilize. The bill also prohibits election officials from considering a voter’s unique characteristics (such as their party preference, race, or name) when making a determination about the voter’s signature.
• SB 398 makes it a crime to knowingly or willfully offer money or something else of value to someone to get them to register to vote or cast a ballot.
• AB 1249 requires counties to allow any voter using a vote-by-mail ballot to vote their ballot in person at their local election office or a satellite location, starting no later than 29 days before an election. At these early vote locations, voters may return a mail ballot; register to vote or update a registration; or vote a regular, provisional or replacement ballot.
• AB 1411 requires counties that do not conduct an all-mail election to create a voter education and outreach plan to identify and register qualified voters who are not registered to vote. Prior law imposed this requirement on all counties, but it has become redundant. Vote-by-mail counties are already required to formulate such plans under existing all-mail election regulations.