California state Senate votes in favor of mailing ballots to registered voters ahead of every election

 Democrats in the California state Senate voted in favor of having all active registered voters receive a ballot through the mail prior to each election, according to the Associated Press.

While a majority of Golden State voters have been voting via mail for years, most had to request that their county elections office to send a ballot, according to the AP. California temporarily altered the rules for the 2020 presidential election to require that all voters get a ballot through the mail in advance of Election Day, the AP noted. State legislators kept that rule for the 2021 elections, including the gubernatorial recall contest, the outlet noted.The state Senate voted Thursday in favor of establishing the rule as permanent, according to the AP, which noted that although the state Assembly previously voted to pass the measure, since the Senate made some alterations the Assembly will need to vote on it again before it heads to the governor.

GOP state senators stood against the legislation Thursday, highlighting an episode from last month when authorities found more than 300 recall election ballots in a person's vehicle, according to the outlet.

Republican Sen. Andreas Borgeas noted that he got one recall ballot delivered to his primary residence and another sent to his in-laws' home.

"So if I'm getting two ballots, I know others are getting multiple ballots as well, and that feeds into this narrative of distrust," Borgeas said, according to the AP.

Democratic state Sen. Tom Umberg said people could not vote twice if they get more than one ballot because the ballots are tracked using bar codes, according to the outlet.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is currently staring down a recall contest and will be ousted from office if a majority of voters back his removal.

"All California active registered voters will receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the September 14, 2021 recall election," according to the California Secretary of State's website, adding the county elections office would begin mailing ballots by Aug. 16.