Chaos in California Over Ballot Box Tampering
Ballot box turned fire scene by an act of arson in Baldwin Park, CA. It is one of several instances of ballot box chaos in California this election. Source.
The 2020 election has raised questions about the security of US voting methods. President Trump has often pleaded for the American people to take caution when voting by mail due to the “incredible fraud” that occurs. In the past few weeks, doubts over election security were bolstered due to multiple controversies over ballot boxes in California.
The state’s Republican party placed unofficial ballot boxes across the state around the time early voting began. When state officials found out about these boxes, they claimed they were illegally “vote tampering” and ordered them to take all the boxes down. However, the GOP fought back saying their boxes were legal under laws in California that provide little to no limits on who can collect and turn in ballots. The law they are referring to is Assembly Bill 1921, which eliminates restrictions on which people are allowed to collect ballots. The only restriction the law provides is that the collector cannot be paid by the number of ballots they turn in and that collectors cannot commit voter fraud. The California Democratic Party has used this law in the past to host “ballot parties,” at which people can complete and give their mail in ballot to an organizer who would then return the ballots to county election officials. Republicans in the state strongly oppose the bill because they believe it creates more of an opportunity for voter fraud. However, this method of ballot collection is fairly popular across many states and there is little to no evidence that it has increased voter fraud. In fact, evidence shows that voter fraud is very rare regardless of voting method.
The legality of these unofficial ballot boxes is still up in the air. Assembly Bill 1921 does not explicitly include ballot boxes. The rules for ballot boxes are found in another section of the California Election Code. This section defines a ballot box as a drop off container established by election officials that returns voted mail-in ballots to the correct election officials. The section delegates the power to judge and decide all other practices pertaining to drop boxes to the Secretary of State. So, the laws are unclear about how legitimate the ballot boxes are. For now, California officials have stated they will investigate the boxes. While they are looking into the drop off sites, they have ordered the GOP to give the names of all voters who have used their boxes and all the locations of the boxes to state officials. However, so far the party has refused to release the names or locations, claiming there is no legal obligation for them to do so.
As this controversy is being debated, another problem arose. During the first weekend of early voting, a man spotted an official ballot box on fire in Baldwin Park, California. The box had not been emptied and numerous ballots were damaged in the fire. This box is one of only two in the county and has been closed due to fire damage. Local officials have stated that the fire did not seem like an accident and, therefore, signs of attempted voter suppression warranted calling on the FBI and Attorney General to conduct an investigation.
While both of these issues are concentrated in one state, the effects of both incidents could greatly influence the outcome of the election. Many have expressed concern over election security due to the ballot box fire. Those who are concerned stated they would likely not turn in their ballot until election day. A higher influx of people dropping off their ballots on election day could overwhelm poll workers, delaying results and increasing risk of even more doubt in the outcome.