California authorities and GOP clash again over unofficial ballot drop boxes - OCRegister

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Contradictory information is swirling after a state-mandated deadline for the California Republican Party to stop using unofficial ballot boxes passed with little clarity about how the boxes will be used going forward and both sides claiming vindication.

In a morning news conference on Friday, Oct. 16, Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the GOP has agreed to stop using mislabeled, unofficial, unstaffed drop boxes, which they have called illegal.

But in their own news conference later in the day, leaders of the state GOP said that while they’ve agreed to stop labeling the collection boxes as “official,” they’ve made no other concessions. They say other conditions sought by state authorities — including a commitment to have the boxes staffed and not set out in public, and that all ballots be turned over to registrars of voters within 72 hours of collection — were already part of their plan.

At one point, GOP officials suggested they were owed an apology from the state over the attempt to enforce election law.

But the party’s public stance doesn’t match what is being said behind the scenes, according to the state’s top election official.

“The California Republican Party is saying one thing in the press and another through their attorneys,” Padilla said, citing commitments the GOP made in a letter Wednesday.

“Their public statements are simply meant to deflect from what they have to agreed to in writing.”

The dispute started over the weekend when photos and accounts spread of the California Republican Party having distributing metal ballot boxes in Los Angeles, Orange and Fresno counties. One widespread photo showed a box labeled “official” sitting outside near the sidewalk in front of Castaic church.

Based on that information, the state on Monday issued cease and desist notices, giving the GOP until Thursday to remove all unofficial ballot boxes.

The California Republican Party sent a response to state officials Wednesday saying they plan to continue using the system to collect ballots while outlining conditions that they insist make the boxes comply with 2016 state ballot harvesting laws.

“This entire week has been nothing but a Democrat effort to suppress Republican votes,” said Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the California Republican party.

State authorities dispute that claim. Orange County’s District Attorney Todd Spitzer, a Republican, said his office is investigating.

“This is not about partisan advantage, one party or another, or any candidate,” Padilla said. “This is about integrity of the election and respecting the rights of voters.”

While investigations are ongoing, Padilla and Becerra said they have no evidence that Republicans are even still using the drop boxes, with inspections and interviews indicating that all of the boxes reported to them have been removed.

But this also contradicts earlier information from the state GOP. On Wednesday, party spokesman Hector Barajas told the Register that the ballot boxes went to “far more counties” than previously reported.

If the boxes do pop up again, Padilla said his office will take action. But unless they find evidence, Becerra said, “we have to assume that everyone is trying to comply with the law.”

Meanwhile, state authorities said they have issued subpoenas to the GOP asking for the number and specific locations of these boxes, since the party has not answered formal requests for that information, insisting it is confidential party data.

Disputes also remain between state authorities and the GOP about a rule requiring ballot collectors to sign the outside of any envelopes they collect. Such a signature helps to document a ballot’s chain of custody, showing the voters entrusted their ballots to that person and that person will return them to elections officials.

The California Republican Party points to a 2018 law that says harvested ballots cannot be rejected just because the collector didn’t sign the envelopes. So the GOP is letting voters drop their ballots into boxes and have someone later collect them, knowing that, while there is no signature or chain of custody established, the ballots can’t be rejected.

Becerra said the fact that registrars will count every valid vote doesn’t mean the ballot collector should not follow the rules dictating that they sign all harvested ballots.

When asked for a response, the attorney for the state GOP, Tom Hiltachk, pointed out that ballot envelopes in Contra Costa County don’t even have a place for collectors to sign.

Scott Konopasek, assistant registrar in Contra Costa County’s elections division, said they eliminated the signature line when state law on third-party ballot delivery changed in 2016.

“The law just says they need to designate someone,” not that it has to be done in writing, Konopasek said, adding that it’s “silly and a moot point anyway” because ballots can’t be disqualified simply because whoever drops it off for the voter didn’t sign the envelope.

The Secretary of State’s office didn’t respond by deadline to a request about the legality of Contra Costa County’s ballot envelopes.

Meanwhile, reports continue to come in about other unofficial ballot drop boxes popping up at new locations in Southern California.

In the Antelope Valley, on the north end of Los Angeles County, concern among voting advocates emerged this week after several churches in the area were reported to be collecting ballots in an effort promoted by Palmdale’s mayor.

“The placement of these unauthorized ballot collection boxes is seen as an act of voter suppression,” said local voting right advocate Dave Bowman, who added that the effort comes at a time when the community’s majority Latino/African American community should be re-enfranchised to vote. “What’s so heinous is the fact that this activity utilizes the religious community to perpetrate this felony.”

Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer pushed back on connections with unauthorized boxes in other areas.

“These were nothing like the unattended and confusingly labeled ‘box’ seen at a church in another city that was being hyped,” he said in a statement to the Southern California News Group. “This was to be a volunteer, sitting at a table, gathering and returning ballots in full compliance with county rules.”

Elections officials urge voters to use official county-run drop boxes, the U.S. Postal Service or in-person vote centers to cast their ballots by Nov. 3.

Staff writers Ryan Carter and Alicia Robinson contributed to this report.

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