Fresno GOP wrongly told voters to drop ballots at gun stores and other unauthorized sites
The Fresno County Republican Party said Monday it is removing unauthorized ballot drop boxes it promoted in violation of state law after the Secretary of State’s office cracked down on a GOP vote harvesting effort.
The locations — which included at least half a dozen gun shops, a gas station and the Fresno GOP headquarters — were previously listed on the local Republican party’s website, but have been removed since the Orange County Register reported on other unauthorized ballot drop locations in Southern California.
The page on the Fresno GOP’s website, under “Ballot Collection Box Locations,” is now empty.
Previously, Fresno Republicans promoted the locations as a reliable way to make sure votes count.
“President (Donald) Trump is very concerned about the lack of security with mail in ballots,” the Fresno GOP website read. “Don’t take a chance that your vote will not be counted. Once your ballot arrives in the mail, mark your ballot completely and then walk it in, as soon as possible, to one of the secure locations listed below.”
All California counties have official ballot drop box sites where voters can return their mail-in ballots, if they prefer to not send them back through the mail. But the locations are designated by county elections officials, not political parties. There are more than 20 official locations in Fresno, including grocery stores, pharmacies, schools and parks.
The California Secretary of State issued guidance to all county elections officials on Sunday after reports of unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Fresno, Los Angeles, and Orange counties.
“Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes—especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes—is not just misleading to voters, it’s a violation of state law,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement. “My office is coordinating with local officials to address the multiple reports of unauthorized ballot drop boxes. Californians should only use official ballot drop boxes that have been deployed and secured by their county elections office. Official ballot drop boxes and drop off locations can be found at caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov.”
The guidance said even if the boxes were not labeled “official” ballot drop boxes, they would still be in violation of state law. It is legal to collect someone else’s ballot and turn it in for them in California, but having voters turn in ballots to a non-official location still violates the law, according to the Secretary of State guidance.
“When a voter drops off a ballot in an unauthorized, non-official vote-by-mail drop box, no designated ‘person’ would be signing, as required by state law,” the guidance states. “A person designated by the voter to return their vote-by-mail ballot envelope to the county elections official within the required time period by law, must provide their name, signature and relationship to the voter.”
Fred Vanderhoof, chairman of the Fresno GOP, said they are removing all the ballot collection boxes formerly listed on the website and taking all ballots turned in at those sites to county elections officials. That had always been their intention, Vanderhoof said, and they had thought doing so was legal under California’s ballot collection law.
He also called the California Secretary of State Alex Padilla “hypocritical,” because Padilla had entered into a $35 million contract with firm SKD Knickerbocker — which touts itself as being proud to be a part of “Team Biden” on its website — to run “Vote Safe California,” a state information campaign to encourage voting by mail and inform Californians about changes to Election Day due to the coronavirus. Padilla is being sued over the contract.
“Democrats are allowed to engage in ballot harvesting but Republicans are not allowed to ballot harvest,” Vanderhoof said.
The California Republican Party also defended the use of the unauthorized ballot boxes in tweets on Sunday.
“If a congregation/business or other group provides the option to its parishioners/associates/ or colleagues to drop off their ballot in a safe location, with people they trust, rather than handing it over to a stranger who knocks on their door — what is wrong with that?” the account tweeted.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Fresno GOP wrongly told voters to drop ballots at gun stores and other unauthorized sites."
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