June 8, 2020 - WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican Party of California have filed a preliminary injunction for relief in their recent lawsuit seeking to have California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order redesigning California’s entire election system declared unlawful.
Democrats have seized on the coronavirus pandemic to push their long-sought partisan election agenda, and Governor Newsom is right in line, using the virus as a basis to rewrite California’s election laws. His executive order to send absentee ballots without necessary ballot safeguards is an illegal and brazen power grab ahead of November’s elections.
Now, Democrats in the state senate voted against an amendment to ensure ballots are not mailed to nonexistent voters, and want to extend ballot harvesting for a minimum of 20 days after Election Day. Republicans will not stand by as Democrats try to destroy confidence in our elections.
"Not only does Governor Newsom lack the authority to declare California a vote-by-mail state, the content of the order itself is a brazen and illegal power grab that would damage the integrity of elections in the state. We will continue to fight to ensure current election laws are upheld and that California Democrats like Newsom cannot continue their assault on the integrity of our elections," said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Democrats’ Election Power Grab in California:
Governor Newsom’s executive order declaring California a vote-by-mail state is unlawful, violating eligible voters’ rights and creating an opportunity for fraud:
- Newsom’s executive order violates eligible citizens’ right to vote. By ordering that vote-by-mail ballots be automatically sent to every registered voter, Newsom has created a recipe for disaster.
- In direct response to the lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and California Republican Party against Gov. Gavin Newsom over his unlawful executive order to make California a vote-by-mail state, California conceded it would not send ballots to inactive voters.
- This was a huge concession and a major reversal from Democrat California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who vowed not to send ballots to inactive voters while also affirming the need for election safeguards like signature verification.
- In direct response to the lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and California Republican Party against Gov. Gavin Newsom over his unlawful executive order to make California a vote-by-mail state, California conceded it would not send ballots to inactive voters.
- California Democrats’ weaponization of ballot harvesting has led to a lack of safeguards and delays in counting ballots. House Republicans recently released a report on the political weaponization of ballot harvesting in California – where the practice of strangers going door-to-door to collect ballots is commonplace, with no supervision. The report emphasizes the lack of safeguards on ballot harvesting: there is no way to track who drops off ballots to polling locations, no way to track the quantity of ballots that are dropped off at once, and no way to determine the chain of custody of ballots – opening the door to fraud and inaccurate ballot counts. In 2018, ballot harvesting had a major impact on the midterm elections in California, when seven Republican candidates were leading on election night, but lost weeks later because of the delay in counting mail ballots – many of which were harvested.
Background:
The RNC’s lawsuit against Gov. Newsom comes on the heels of Republicans’ legal intervention in California’s 25th Congressional District Special election. Rep. Mike Garcia won despite the Democrats' best efforts to turn the election in their favor by allowing for ballot harvesting and opening up a single in-person voting center in a district favorable to his opponent, amidst their push for an all-mail election, which was patently hypocritical. These efforts were clearly done with partisan intentions, and underscore exactly why we are fighting back. Democrats are proposing to strip away important safeguards of the vote-by-mail process, such as sending ballots to inactive voters, doing away with signature matching, legalizing ballot harvesting, and more under the guise of voter access amidst a pandemic.
The RNC continues to fight back against the Democrats’ assault on the integrity of our elections by intervening in left-wing backed lawsuits across the country. On Monday, the Republicans sued Clark County in Nevada for hiding evidence of a shady backroom election deal. Republicans recently sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his brazen and illegal power grab to make California a vote-by-mail state. Republicans also recently intervened in a lawsuit Democrats brought in Florida, where they demanded county supervisors of elections willfully ignore and violate Florida election law by prohibiting enforcement of the state’s ban on ballot harvesting, and allow ballots to be counted after Election Day. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania recently handed us a big victory, throwing out a left-wing lawsuit to allow ballots to be counted after Election Day. Similar radical lawsuits are being fought in states like Michigan, New Mexico, and Arizona. The RNC recently doubled its legal budget to $20 million to fight these efforts, and you can learn at www.ProtectTheVote.com.
Source: GOP
Related: Republican National Committee Reports it is Suing California’s Governor Gavin Newsom Over his Executive Order Declaring California is a Vote-By-Mail State
