Elections: vote by mail ballots

The law protects ballots from tampering, unauthorized access, broken custody, and intentional nonreturn. It imposes felony penalties on supervisors who direct others to interfere.

What the law does ​

• Makes willful interference with delivering a vote-by-mail ballot to a voter a misdemeanor.
• Retains misdemeanor penalties for willful interference with returning a completed vote-by-mail ballot to the local elections official.
• Defines interference to include unauthorized ballot access, tampering, breaking the chain of custody, and a designated returner failing to return a ballot.
• Makes it a felony, punishable by two, three, or four years in prison, for a person in authority to direct subordinates to interfere with ballot delivery or return.
• Takes effect immediately for the November 3, 2026, statewide general election.

Who it affects ​

• People who handle or are responsible for vote-by-mail ballots.
• People designated to return another voter's ballot.
• Supervisors or other officials who direct people handling ballots.

Context ​

The law does not require state reimbursement for local costs tied to its criminal-law changes.