On April 28, the Election Integrity Project California notified Secretary of State Alex Padilla that its analysis of the state’s official voter registration file found more than 458,000 registered voters who were going to be mailed a ballot even though they had likely died or moved.
None of these registered voters had voted or updated their registration since November 2008 or earlier, and 178,000 had never voted, yet all remained classified as “active” voters.
EIPCa’s data analysts also found that 24,000 Californians were likely to be mailed two or more ballots, because they have more than one registration each.
So Padilla can’t say he wasn’t warned.
Last week, EIPCa sent findings to Padilla documenting that California mailed out 440,000 “questionable” ballots in this election. Nearly 420,000 were mailed to people who have likely moved or died, and two to four ballots were mailed to each of 20,000 voters. For example, in Alameda County, a woman with three active registrations was mailed three ballots. She registered three times in 2020 using three different registration methods.
Padilla’s VoteCal database system is supposed to prevent that from happening.
“Earlier this year, the Secretary repeatedly rejected similar findings, despite the risks of universal mail voting with a bloated voter list,” said EIPCa president Linda Paine. She encouraged candidates and political parties to obtain EIPCa’s report on questioned ballots and work with local election officials to make sure only lawful votes are counted.
California’s 58 counties mailed out a total of more than 21 million ballots for the Nov. 3 election. It’s the first time every voter has received a vote-by-mail ballot, and this presents many challenges. It’s especially difficult for the U.S. Postal Service, which isn’t set up to meet specific delivery deadlines on bulk mail or postage-paid return mail. That partially explains the near-hysterical public service announcements urging everyone to vote early.
People shouldn’t have to vote early if they prefer to vote on Election Day, and voters shouldn’t be subjected to an official campaign of fear, spreading the message that voting at the polls may be difficult, unsafe or too crowded to accommodate everyone.
More fear-mongering is coming from the fight between the Republican Party and Democratic elected officials over ballot “harvesting.” This is the practice of collecting vote-by-mail ballots from willing voters who have completed, sealed and signed them.
The California Republican Party placed metal mailbox-style boxes at various locations, including churches, gun stores and campaign offices. Except for the fact that some of these containers were incorrectly labeled “Official” ballot drop-boxes, this is completely legal. Assembly Bill 1921, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, ended a bunch of old-fashioned “safeguards” that had been put in place to ensure election integrity. For example, it once was illegal in California for anyone working or volunteering for a group, organization or campaign to deliver someone else’s ballot for them.
Under AB1921, a voter may give his or her ballot to any person who offers to deliver it to election officials. Campaigns can collect ballots. So can political parties, unions and other organizations. The person who is going to deliver the ballot is supposed to sign in a designated place on the ballot return envelope, but state law says counties may not refuse to accept a ballot solely because the person returning it failed to sign the envelope. (The voter must sign.)
In addition to unofficial ballot drop-boxes, there are official ballot drop-boxes where voters can deposit their completed ballots. This was yet another reform that purportedly would make it easier and more convenient to vote.
One problem with these unattended outdoor drop-boxes became evident last weekend when somebody lit a piece of newspaper on fire and stuffed it into a ballot drop-box in Baldwin Park. L.A. County officials estimated that about 200 ballots were inside, damaged to varying degrees by fire and water.
California voters who want to be sure that they’re still registered correctly can check at RegisterToVote.sos.ca.gov. Voters who want to be sure their ballot was delivered and counted can sign up for ballot tracking at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.
Of course, technology isn’t perfect. When I checked the “Where’s My Ballot” site, this is what came up: “Hi! If you are seeing this page, BallotTrax is undergoing necessary maintenance that required us to bring part of the system down. We are working on bringing the system back as fast as possible.” And then it thanked me for my “patience and understanding.”
Here’s an idea for a revolutionary election reform to solve the problems of bloated voter lists, foreign or domestic hacking, excessive burdens on the USPS and delays due to crowds at the polls.Under this plan, we will vote at assigned locations in our neighborhoods on Election Day. To make sure there is no electronic tampering, we will sign in on a printed paper roster of registered voters, and we will vote using ink on a paper ballot that can be recounted and reviewed later. As in other states, we will show a photo ID at the polling place so no one can impersonate anyone else and illegally vote their ballot. While anyone may request a vote-by-mail ballot, it will only be mailed after they request it, and it may only be returned by mail, by the voter, or by a family or household member.
This will be the perfect system for California. Paper is the only technology that still works when the power goes out.
Susan Shelley is an editorial writer and columnist for the Southern California News Group. Susan@SusanShelley.com. Twitter: @Susan_Shelley
https://goo.gl/hYDEHJ
No comments:
Post a Comment