This article is accurate—but does Not include all the Fake News about the elections.
- FAKE News—sending out ballots to the dead means the dead did not vote. How do we know this without an audit?
2. FAKE NEWS: Those living out of State that received ballots did not vote. How do we know this without an audit? - FAKE NEWS Dominion is an honest company, they would not cheat. How do we know this since they refuse to allow an audit of their system?
- FAKE NEWS: harvesting of votes is as honest as voting in a polling place. How do we know this, since, there is no way to tell if ALL the harvested ballots were returned?
- FAKE NEWS: Registering to vote on Election Day is safe and honest. How do we know this since you do not have to show ID?
You get the point. The mainstream media is biased. It claims only those that are concerned about honest elections are crazy. How about those that claim elections are honest, without an audit or proof—could they be crazy—or just do not care about honest and free elections?
Latest Wave of Fake News Concerns Mail Ballot Fraud in California’s Recall Election
by Sameea Kamal,• CalMatters. 9/7/21
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You’ve seen the posts on Twitter and Facebook, or maybe someone forwarded a WhatsApp message about suspicious activity with California’s recall ballots.
Unfounded rumors about election security have always been around, but they’ve been rampant since the 2020 election and former President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. Despite those allegations, the 2020 elections were found to be “the most secure in American history,” according to a statement from a coalition of government and election industry officials.
Claims of fraud in California’s recall election have been amplified on social media by some recall supporters, as well by some of the candidates themselves, including Larry Elder, the Republican talk show host leading most polls.
So ahead of the Sept. 14 election, state and county election officials are emphasizing transparency — including allowing observers to watch the vote count — and ramping up messages to combat disinformation. On television and social media, the secretary of state’s office is running spots about how votes are safeguarded, including independent testing, paper trails and audits.
On Sept. 2, a group of election security experts urged California to conduct a thorough post-election audit because the recall is the first contest after copies of systems used to run elections were released publicly, the Associated Press reported.
Here’s a look at the most common allegations and conspiracy theories out there:
Stolen and Extra Ballots
There can be fraud, or at least potential fraud. But it’s just not widespread.
Last week in Torrance, police officers investigating reports of a man sleeping in his car found stolen driver’s licenses, credit cards and mail, including300 unmarked, unopened recall ballots. The man was arrested, and voters whose ballots were found will be sent new ones.
Torrance Police Sgt. Ron Salary said the ballots were a small fraction of the mail stolen, and that while the investigation is ongoing, it did not appear to be part of any larger election-related plot.
“When someone gets caught committing a crime, that means the system is working,” said Jenna Dresner, spokesperson for the state’s Office of Election Cybersecurity. “In this case, it was a matter of general mail theft and was referred to the appropriate federal and local law enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute as needed.”
Some Californians have reported receiving ballots that weren’t meant for them — either with names of people not in their household, or extra ballots.
Counties send out ballots based on voter rolls — a registry that can sometimes fall out of date due to unreported deaths, or changes of address, for example. The accelerated timeline of the recall election could lead to some ballots landing in the wrong places, experts say. But as with the stolen ballots in Torrance, there are safeguards to ensure no one can vote more than once.
Los Angeles County officials emphasized that the signature verification process prevents a person’s ballot from being used by anyone else.
“Every returned Vote by Mail ballot is verified by matching the signature on the return envelope with the signature on the voter’s registration record,” said Mike Sanchez, communications officer for theLos Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. “Once verified, the ballot is recorded as received in our database and the ballot is processed to be tallied on Election Night.”
In 2020, a study published by the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation found that 1.4% of all the vote-by-mail ballots cast in the March primary were rejected. A closer look at just San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sacramento counties in 2018 found that signature mismatches accounted for 4%, 10% and 40% of all rejections, respectively. Voters are notified so they can try to fix their ballot and get it counted.
The state also requires counties to include bar codes on ballot envelopes and provide a paper trail as ballots arrive and are counted.
Ballot Design: Holes and Folds
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, says misinformation is not always spread by conspiracy theorists: Sometimes, it’s just concerned or confused voters.
“Elections in California have never been simple,” she said, noting that some voting specifics vary from county to county. “That results in confusion and unfortunately some people, when they don’t understand something, jump to the worst-case scenario.”
Take, for example, the posts circulating about holes in mail ballot return envelopes. Some raised concerns that how they voted could be seen through those holes.
In response to one Los Angeles voter’s tweet, the county’s Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk noted the holes have been part of the envelope design for years. They allow voters with vision impairments to find where they need to sign, and they also ensure that no ballot is left in its envelope and uncounted.
