California Authorities Order Removal of Fraudulent Ballot Drop Boxes

On November 3rd, 2020, the American people will hold an election…at least on paper.

In reality, the election has already begun, with ballots arriving at their destinations from all corners of the American electorate.  There are absentee ballots being mailed via USPS.  There are citizens waiting in line for hours to cast their ballots in person.  There are unsolicited ballots being dropped off at local election offices.

President Trump has repeatedly warned that such a scattershot approach to voting could be ripe for fraud or ballet harvesting – a point that the Democratic Party has worked hard to refute.

Now, in a cruel twist of irony, California Republicans have seemingly proven that there are indeed issues with certain types of voting, but they’ve not come to this conclusion from the outside looking in.

California officials have ordered the removal of unauthorized ballot drop boxes set up by Republicans in three Golden State counties.

“These unauthorized drop boxes are a disservice to state and local election administrators who have spent months working on the placement and deployment of official ballot drop boxes,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a news conference Monday, according to CNN.

Padilla said that images show the boxes are labeled as “official.” His office has issued a cease-and-desist order for their removal.

The organization responsible for the boxes defended their efficacy, but California authorities just weren’t having it.

California GOP officials defended the boxes, claiming they are a valid form of ballot harvesting, the practice of collecting multiple ballots to submit to election officials, according to The Associated Press. However, Padilla said that only county election officials are authorized to set up drop boxes and that the ones at issue lack required anti-tampering protections.

“We hope that the message goes out loud and clear to anyone who is trying to improperly solicit, obtain, and manage a citizen’s vote that they are subject to prosecution,” State Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said. “I’m trying to be careful with how I say this, but the reports we are hearing are disturbing.”

While no charges have been officially filed, state authorities have reiterated that they believe laws were broken in the case.