Because it fairly certainly is. Yes, I get that this is the Trump era, where Republicans openly and brazenly flout the law, but crime should not be normalized.
Way to miss the point.
Yes, and it was such a serious violation the boxes were immediately removed from private property and an investigation was started as to who to charge.
Actually misrepresenting the boxes as "official", not the boxes themselves, may have been what was illegal. The GOP agreed to remove boxes labeled "official" and relabel them.
Are you of the crowd that only values things like electoral integrity and security when you think they will benefit "your side?" Similarly, Rule of Law? Should people stop being offended by rank hypocrisy in politics?
You do know which side I'm on, right? I think you need to look in the mirror.
I'm defending the GOP's side because they presented a rational argument that they were merely doing what the law allowed (harvesting ballots) and which the Democrats had done the previous year.
Either way, it sure looks like you've seized upon just ONE of the potential concerns - one of the less impactful and less likely ones, really - and are harping on it as if that's all anyone could possibly be concerned about.
I have seized upon the fact this is not the outrageous crime it is being portrayed as.
Was the goal to get Democratic ballots and toss them out? Or was the goal to make it easier for Republicans to vote, something legal in CA?
If you can't beat them, join them.
LA Times: California officials say GOP’s ballot boxes are illegal. Republicans may expand the practice Sorry, it's paywalled after your monthly allotment of free articles but there are multiple sources of the story.
For years, Republicans across the country have decried the use of so-called “ballot harvesting,” arguing that laws that allow a third party to collect voters’ completed ballots serve as a breeding ground for election fraud. In California, the state’s Republican Party has taken Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials to court over the practice.
Now, California’s GOP is defending its use of the very ballot collection law it once sued over....
At the center of the battle are questions of whether it is legal to collect ballots through third party boxes and also what constitutes an “official” ballot drop box. California law says a mail voter may designate another person to return their ballot....
A party spokesman told the Associated Press that they would stop labeling their ballot boxes “official” to avoid confusion and said that they may expand their use.
The issue:
According to experts, the use of third-party ballot collection boxes is not illegal, but the false designation of an “official” drop-off box is because the boxes are not sanctioned by election officials.
I don't know which experts they are citing.
The GOP contends the people putting their ballots in the boxes know who they are entrusting the ballots to given the locations of the boxes. They agree the boxes need to have more clear labeling.
Here's an example of a possibly misleading statement by the person interviewed:
Macías, of the Brennan Center for Justice, said that it would be one thing for a voter to designate a gun store owner as a person to return a ballot on their behalf, rather than a box in front of the store.
The GOP rep said the boxes were inside the stores.
Correction: One box is pictured outside a church in
the CNN article. There's no big label saying official collection box. That box was removed.
Besides labeling which the GOP has agreed to change, one's POV depends on how one views the GOP motives.
Macías said he believes that the GOP wants to bring attention to their opposition of the state law “by trolling election officials.”
“These tactics fit a familiar pattern of attempting to suppress voting,” he said. “Undermining confidence, creating confusion, spreading disinformation — these are forms of voter suppression. It lays a groundwork to later claim you can’t trust the voter results.”
Troll election officials to bring attention to disagreement with the law?
And/or undermine confidence in mail-in ballots?
Or how about, if you can't beat them join them?
The fact these boxes were all in places GOP members of the public would be likely to put their ballots in the boxes, not places members of the public at large would put their ballots in them, suggests it's the last option.
