Unofficial ballot drop boxes found in three California counties
Officials said the California secretary of state's office has received several reports in recent days of possibly illegal drop boxes for ballots in three counties.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office said it is coordinating with local officials to investigate the reports of unauthorized boxes in Orange, Los Angeles and Fresno counties, according to the Orange County Register.
"Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes - especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes - is not just misleading to voters, it's a violation of state law," Padilla said in a statement.
The boxes have reportedly been sighted in locations such as churches and local political parties' offices, the Register noted. Ballot drop boxes are under the jurisdiction of county election officials, according to the newspaper, which added that a felony conviction for operating unauthorized boxes can carry a sentence of up to four years.
Freedom's Way Baptist Church in Castaic, for example, posted on social media that a metal box out front was "approved and brought by the GOP." Church officials said they did not have access to the ballots, adding that local Republican officials were responsible for collecting them.
The Fresno County Republican Party also posted what it called a list of "secure" ballot collection sites on its website, none of which are official county drop box locations, according to the official county site.
California Republican officials have defended the drop boxes, saying a 2016 law allowing so-called ballot harvesting permits them. State officials said the boxes do not constitute harvesting, which allows voters to designate someone to submit ballots on their behalf. The drop boxes, however, do not involve a designated proxy signing for the ballots, according to state officials.
"What we did was started to look into it, notified the state, and the Secretary of State issued guidance this afternoon that it is illegal and you can't do that," Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley told the Register. "It would be like me installing a mailbox out on the corner - the post office is the one that installs mailboxes."
Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/unofficial-ballot-drop-boxes-found-in-three-california-counties/ar-BB19WqmD?ocid=msedgntp
you have officially validated that going to the polls in person with a valid i.d. is the only way to assure irrefutably honest elections.
the lone exception is absentee balloting whereby a citizen cannot be physically present at the polling place (military, for instance), so they request an absentee ballot which is then sent back to the originator who compares it to the official list and tabulates the results.
amen, brother.
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and do the right thing - Only deception and cheating are rules of the day.
But it's nice to see you trying to show off your muscular posting skills again using a derogatory some other moron has posted thinking it clever -
I'll bet you're the life of the party
my post clearly did not specify one "party" or the other. it called out generic voter fraud practices. your post, of course, was totally partisan.
please get someone to explain it all to you.
claiming it's a both parties is not something you proved, but you did accentuate, Republicans are not to be trusted.
And to make it more clear - absentee ballots or Mail in Ballots have been successfully used in many states for some time without incident. You've created an answer to a problem which didn't
exist until, well, take a look at the 1st post in the tread and read it, comprehend it and then look at what you posted.
And your lack of character in your initial post is quite clear.
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Because if you think it happens on both sides (which is the only conclusion a thinking person could make), then it is reasonable to install safeguards against voter fraud. Do you agree?
it's the GOP and their cronies who seem to be the active party in voter fraud.
I don't doubt voter fraud happens but when you cry wolf and you're the wolf, it does come across as - you're just a bunch of douchebags.
What is it you and Baron post on a daily bases? - D's accuse R's of what they're doing - yet, you all seem to be doing the accusing and doing.
My, how that doesn't show you off as hypocrites.
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it's always the Republicans. How can that be?
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