The California Republican Party will not comply with the cease-and-desist letter from Secretary of State Alex Padilla to stop using unofficial ballot drop boxes.
“The program you now falsely claim to be illegal is a perfect example of what you ‘proudly’ state to be permissible just last year,” lawyers for the state GOP wrote to Padilla. “Voters have decided, for themselves, that they trust the state and volunteers at their local political Party headquarters, or their church, or a business that they patronize, to securely deliver their completed VBM ballot to the appropriate election official.”
The state GOP told ABC 7 that the party plans to expand the program, not stop it.
“We are going to continue this program. If he wants to take us to court, then we’ll see him court,” said Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California Republican Party.
Padilla issued the cease-and-desist letter on Monday to remove the ballot drop boxes that were placed in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Fresno County. In the letter, he said that his office received images of the drop boxes that showed that some of the boxes were labeled “official,” a violation of California’s ballot harvesting rules.
Per California’s voting rules, “volunteers, campaign operatives, and private organizations, in addition to close family members,” can accept ballots to turn in on someone else’s behalf, according to CBS News. However, harvested ballots must be signed by both the voter and the person collecting the ballot, and the relationship between the voter and the harvester must be identified. Padilla argued that this wouldn’t happen with the GOP’s drop boxes.
Only county elections officials are allowed to oversee official ballot drop boxes. County registrars make sure every box follows strict state guidelines to ensure that they are secure, including making sure the boxes be tampered with by tracing the chain of custody of all ballots.
“There is nothing illegal about the collection of ballots provided by voters, on a certainly volunteer basis, and entrusted to the persons who are operating that local election, or local party office, from transmitting those ballots,” California Republican Party general counsel Tom Hiltachk said.
On Wednesday, President Trump told the California Republican Party to “fight hard” against the cease-and-desist order.
You mean only Democrats are allowed to do this? But haven’t the Dems been doing this for years? See you in court. Fight hard Republicans! https://t.co/vaToeGB2ze
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2020
The Washington Examiner reached out to the California Republican Party for comment.
