Democrats Stole the Election in California — Legally, Through ‘Ballot Harvesting’

[PSM]

Are we there yet?

It sounds “bizarre,” as outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) described it to the Washington Post on Thursday — but it is absolutely true: Democratic operatives handed in pile after pile of other people’s ballots.

And Demorats are proud of it, mocking Republicans for failing to take advantage of a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, over GOP objections, that allows “ballot harvesting,” and which some Republicans are now blaming for their defeat.

The practice explains several mysteries about the 2018 election, such as: why mail-in ballots caused massive shifts toward Democrats in races Republicans thought they won on Election Night; why Republicans won the turnout battle in the primary, but lost it in the general election; and why Democrats with party backing defeated fellow Democrats without it — even when the latter had more money.

“Ballot harvesting” by Democratic Party operatives — a surprise tactic they likely saved for the general election — appears to have made the difference. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday that Democrats ran a disciplined, door-to-door campaign offering to deliver voters’ ballots to the polls:

Few people noticed when Gov. Jerry Brown signed the changes in AB1921 into law two years ago. In the past, California allowed only relatives or people living in the same household to drop off mail ballots for another voter. The new law allowed anyone, even a paid political campaign worker, to collect and return ballots — “harvesting” them, in political slang.
…
In Orange County alone, where every House seat went Democratic, “the number of Election Day vote-by-mail dropoffs was unprecedented — over 250,000,” Fred Whitaker, chairman of the county Republican Party, said in a note to supporters. “This is a direct result of ballot harvesting allowed under California law for the first time. That directly caused the switch from being ahead on election night to losing two weeks later.”
…
For Democrats, the ballot harvesting was all part of a greater effort to get out the vote from their supporters, particularly from occasional voters.
“We beat Republicans on the ground, fair and square,” said Katie Merrill, a Democratic consultant deeply involved in November campaigns. “Many of the field plans included (ballot harvesting) as an option to deliver voters or their ballots” to the polls.

Republicans, in contrast, simply focused on traditional turnout operations — and lost badly.

In the days after the election, some Republicans speculated that there had been “voter fraud” in the state. And, true, Los Angeles County prosecutors busted a ring that bribed the homeless to register fraudulently. The Department of Motor Vehicles also registered 1,500 ineligible voters.

Yet “ballot harvesting” likely had a bigger effect.

Democrat Secretary of State Alex Padilla mocked Republican concerns, telling Politico: “What they call strange and bizarre, we call democracy.”

But it is democracy as practiced almost nowhere else in the world — except for one-party banana republics in failed third-world states, where the sight of ruling party apparatchiks dropping off bundles of ballots is not unusual.

Eric Eggers, author of Fraud: How the Left Plans to Steal the Next Election, told Breitbart News Tonight on Thursday that “ballot harvesting” also creates opportunities for coercion and bribery. Nevertheless, it is legal.

And as Shawn Steel, the California committeeman for the Republican National Committee (RNC), wrote on Wednesday, it is not necessary for Democrats to break the law when fraud has effectively been legalized, through “ballot harvesting” and other methods.

“Merciless and unsparing, California Democrats have systematically undermined California’s already-weak voter protection laws to guarantee permanent one-party rule,” he said.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...ot-harvesting/

[exsquid]

I say, "well played, thanks for tipping your hand prior to 2020." Now Republicans know they have to utilize this tactic in all future elections in CA.

x/S

[cbtengr]

In their zeal to make voting easier they have totally corrupted the process which I am sure was the goal all along. Voting should require an effort.

[JJ_BPK]

This is not new. I don't know why the Ca REDs have not been in court over this when it first was signed?

And Demorats are proud of it, mocking Republicans for failing to take advantage of a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, over GOP objections, that allows “ballot harvesting,” and which some Republicans are now blaming for their defeat.

If someone doesn't stop this in court, every blue state will be HARVESTING votes in every election in the future. AND probably REDs as well..

It is a complete abomination of our electoral system.

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by cbtengr

In their zeal to make voting easier they have totally corrupted the process which I am sure was the goal all along. Voting should require an effort.

I speculate the DEM's tried the same thing in Florida, AZ and GA. This ends justify the means mentality will be the end of the US as we know it.

[Chucko]

Originally Posted by exsquid

I say, "well played, thanks for tipping your hand prior to 2020." Now Republicans know they have to utilize this tactic in all future elections in CA.

x/S

They tipped their hand but by 2020 Dems will come have a new gimmick in play while Repubs are using a trick the Dems showed in 18. The GOP need to get down and dirty in politics instead using Dems old tactics.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by Chucko

They tipped their hand but by 2020 Dems will come have a new gimmick in play while Repubs are using a trick the Dems showed in 18. The GOP need to get down and dirty in politics instead using Dems old tactics.

^^ This. Equivalent to GOP still waiting for 22 mechanized divisions to come roaring through the Fulda Gap. They can't keep up because they don't have true-believers going 24/7/365 just to wargame this stuff.

[WarriorDiplomat]

Wait a second let me get this straight

Trump offers a penthouse to Putin if he can build in Moscow unless he becomes President then no more business dealings-so after Trump wins no penthouse

Obama and Hillary negotiated to give up 20% of our Uranium to Russia that gave Russia's military back its bite-So if Hillary wins Russia wins again

Trump is accused of collusion with Russia to interfere with our elections

Democrat states push laws that co-opt criminals, no proof of citizenship of that Snipes lady and eyewitness accounts of just changing ballots without consent or oversight and now this

The conspiracy makes perfect sense

Diabolical

No wonder Californians are so depressed nd confused it actually gives me hope that people their are angry and confused as to how Democrats won given their policies further degrading what is left in California....the Dems stole the election

Naw....has to be fake news keep looking for Trumps collusion he must have he is abrasive, un Presidential and bucks the protocols of corrupt politicians

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by WarriorDiplomat

Wait a second let me get this straight

Trump offers a penthouse to Putin if he can build in Moscow unless he becomes President then no more business dealings-so after Trump wins no penthouse

Obama and Hillary negotiated to give up 20% of our Uranium to Russia that gave Russia's military back its bite-So if Hillary wins Russia wins again

Trump is accused of collusion with Russia to interfere with our elections

Democrat states push laws that co-opt criminals, no proof of citizenship of that Snipes lady and eyewitness accounts of just changing ballots without consent or oversight and now this

The conspiracy makes perfect sense

Diabolical

Except once they got their Uranium deal the Russians didn't care whether Felonia von Pantsuit got rolled up or not; her further value < Putin's dislike for her because she fostered that little thing in the Ukraine over which he's been a tad PO'd, he didn't like her already, the new Ukrainian regime was trying to help her, and he knows the Dem establishment are the genuine foreign-intrigue mongers in the bunch. The old term 'useful idiot' applies. After the Rostom deal he probably just said, "my hands are washed."

Other than that, umm, yeah, you pretty much summed it up.


I mean, this is bigger than the average baseball conference at the mound... we gotta lotta shit goin' on here.

[tom kelly]

ALL BALLOTS IN ENGLISH ONLY: POSITIVE PROOF OF US CITIZENSHIP BIRTH CERTIFICATES FROM ALL YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, YOUR GRANDPARENTS and YOUR CERTIFIED BIRTH CERTIFICATE: A REQUISITE TO VOTE IS YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND YOUR INTELLIGENCE via A TEST GIVEN AS A REQUISITE TO GRADUATE GRADE 12 BY AGE 19: TEST IS IN ENGLISH, QUESTIONS FROM AREAS OF MATH, SCIENCE, HISTORY, LITERATURE & LANGUAGE, PHILOSOPHY, and ECONOMICS. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO PASS THIS TEST IF YOU ATTENDED SCHOOL AND PAID ATTENTION: TIME HAS COME TO CULL THE HERD.

[hardcorps]

No, guys, the Democrats did not "steal" the election in California. I've noticed that most of you who are agreeing with this sentiment do not live in California. I've lived here for decades now. We've had Republican governors and senators in the past, and we've tilted Republican for presidential candidates like Reagan. But the current sentiment on the street in California is strongly anti-Republican and very strongly anti-Trump.

Californians voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic slate in this last election. Don't delude yourselves into thinking this election was "stolen" by the Democrats. Not in California, not in 2018. And before you start pontificating about how screwed up this state is, bear in mind that California recently passed England as the fifth largest economy in the world. So overall, we must be doing something right.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by hardcorps

I've noticed that most of you who are agreeing with this sentiment do not live in California.

I lived there from 1976 until a few of years ago. I watched the deterioration of the once great state and made a run for the border . . . the Arizona border. (And speaking of AZ, in the two main statewide elections, Governor and Senator, how did the Republican Governor receive roughly 250,000 more votes than the Republican candidate for Senator?)

Tell me, who was the Republican candidate for Senate in CA in the recent election? How did very conservative Orange County suddenly lose all of it's Republican Congressmen in one election? Why is King County still counting votes 3 weeks after the election?

[hardcorps]

There was no Republican running for senator because in the statewide primaries the two candidates who received the highest number of votes were both Democrats. So it was basically a runoff, Democrat vs. Democrat. That's how it works here, the highest vote-getters become the candidates; party affiliation has no bearing.

The reason Orange County switched to the Democrats in this last election is quite simple; even longtime Orange County Republicans are tired of the current swamp in Washington. I'm a longtime California Republican voter myself. But in this last election, I marked my ballot solidly blue. No "stolen" votes to point fingers at here. I personally know a few other longtime Republicans here in California who did likewise. Nobody was holding a gun to our heads.

Had Texas voted solidly Democrat, I'd be suspicious. But California? Are you serious?

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by hardcorps

But the current sentiment on the street in California is strongly anti-Republican and very strongly anti-Trump.

Originally Posted by hardcorps

The reason Orange County switched to the Democrats in this last election is quite simple; even longtime Orange County Republicans are tired of the current swamp in Washington.

Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore, huh? These tantrums by a populace occur quite often at mid-terms actually. But I'm curious - truly - what is it about the prospect of a Democrat-controlled House, with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker (and after the VP in the line of succession), that attracts so many others than just the state coastal areas, with the 5th largest economy in the world? I ask because it's pretty clear that ballot harvesting isn't a concern to you. So there must be a real attractant that, all on your own, you and many others decided to wholesale switch party, and not just because of animus toward one man. Voted a full blue ticket, as you say.

Caveat: I was born & raised not too far from you, and the San Fernando Valley doesn't, now or then, fall in Orange County.

[hardcorps]

Here's an article that sums it all up quite succinctly: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...cid=spartandhp

It was posted on MSNBC, so many of you will just outright label it as "Fake News." Call it what you like, but the numbers don't lie. As one political consultant said in the article: “If you were running for dogcatcher in Orange County — or in a lot of places in California — and you had an ‘R’ next to your name on the ballot, you lost.”

We've had some devastating fires here in California these past few years, and in the face of that Trump and many other Republicans are still labeling climate change as a "hoax" or "Fake News." Fine. I'll trust the opinions of thousands of scientists, over the half-baked opinions of a former real estate developer. Many other voters in California obviously feel the same. That's not my only reason for switching from red to blue, but it's one of them.

When the Republicans regain their senses and move back to being the party of Reagan, Bush, McCain, and former California Governor Pete Wilson, I'll be happy to switch back.