By admin 
Recently, President Donald Trump took to the stage in Nebraska and, talking about his war with Iran, said, “They could take out a city… Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
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At least 19 service members have made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s unauthorized war with Iran. Now, Trump is inviting an attack on U.S. soil, putting millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of our service members and their families at risk while trying to get Americans to cheer for an attack on our own country.
What kind of commander in chief does that? But it’s not the first time he’s failed hardworking Americans – and it won’t be the last.
Election Day is Nov. 3, less than 20 days away. But the 2026 midterms are already in full swing.
Ballots have been mailed to every registered California voter—so if you haven’t already, now is the time to make your plan to vote.
Check your voter registration and your state’s deadlines. Decide whether you will vote by mail or in person. If you are voting by mail, learn how to request a ballot and when to return it. If you are voting in person, choose a time to go to the polls, confirm your polling location and make sure you know what identification or other materials you need to bring.
But no matter how you choose to vote, don’t wait until the last minute. Do it as early as possible.
Donald Trump and his administration are sowing confusion and uncertainty in the voting process at every opportunity.
The Supreme Court rightly put a stop to Trump’s executive order attacking mail-in voting. But that isn’t stopping him from continuing to find other ways to interfere. For more than 18 months, this president has tried to influence how elections are run – from threatening to “take over” federal elections with efforts like the SAVE America Act, to his administration refusing to rule out deploying federal agents to polling sites.
And Trump’s Department of Homeland Security continues pressuring states to turn over sensitive and confidential voter information while pushing to use its modified SAVE Program to confirm voters’ eligibility – even though it has mistakenly mislabeled the citizenship status of thousands of Americans.
And he’ll keep trying all the way up to Election Day and beyond.
There are also practical changes that could undermine voters’ abilities to cast their ballots this year.
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Because of changes to its transportation operations, a piece of mail might not reach a USPS processing facility the same day that it’s received. For voters, that means that even if you mail your ballot on time, the postmark election officials rely on could still be dated after the deadline if you cut it too close.
Late postmarks are the reason that over 93,000 mail-in ballots were rejected in California’s June primary, and that more than 20,000 ballots were rejected in Washington’s August primary.
I want to be absolutely clear: Americans should feel confident in our elections and our election systems – including vote-by-mail.
As California’s former secretary of state, I oversaw several elections in the most populous state in the nation. I know firsthand that our elections work. They are safe and secure thanks to the thousands of dedicated state and local election officials who work around the clock to successfully administer elections at every level.
But confidence in our elections should not mean complacency about our participation in them.
With so much confusion and uncertainty surrounding this election, every voter would be smart to stay ahead of the curve.
Don’t wait until the last minute. Make your plan. And then follow through on it as early as you possibly can.
Check your registration. Know your deadlines. Decide how and when you’re going to vote – giving yourself plenty of time, especially if you’re voting by mail. Then make sure your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers do the same.
Because our democracy depends on more than simply having the right to vote. It depends on all of us exercising that right.
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Alex Padilla represents California in the United States Senate