You’re listening to much more about election integrity — for lots of causes.
For the reason that 2020 election, the difficulty has been fueled by the “Large Lie” — the baseless declare nonetheless touted by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the election was stolen — and the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol and its aftermath.
Questioning election integrity has additionally develop into a political technique: Within the effort final 12 months to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, Republican candidate Larry Elder stated he was involved about fraud and began an internet site to gather suggestions even earlier than the votes have been counted.
Whereas consultants agree that there isn’t any widespread voter fraud and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber advised CalMatters there isn’t any proof of frequent cases, there have been scattered makes an attempt to cheat. In 2020, for instance, the California Republican Social gathering admitted putting greater than 50 pretend poll drop containers in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange counties. In August 2021, in the course of the recall election, a 34-year-old man stole 300 ballots from a Postal Service car in Torrance as a part of a financial institution fraud and id theft scheme. The ballots, which have been unopened, have been canceled and new ones despatched to the voters.
There are a variety of checks and balances to make sure nobody can recreation the system. The Secretary of State’s workplace and the 58 county election places of work say they’re working to reassure voters that voting programs are safe.
“I feel it’s a must to keep involved as a result of in case you ever get to the purpose the place you’re not involved and also you’re not every little thing and also you’re not listening to every little thing, then that’s when you find yourself with a lot of issues,” stated Weber, who took over because the state’s chief election officer in January 2021.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Basis, stated the state has one of the vital safe voting processes within the nation.
“There’s an enormous distinction between what you may think might occur and what really does occur,” she stated. “I’m definitely not hoping that voters will simply blindly observe no matter their elections officers say. That’s not how democracy works. However election officers bend over backwards to make the method as clear and accessible as potential.”
Election integrity is the concept voting have to be free and truthful for all. There are federal legal guidelines on election fraud, plus necessities within the California structure.
For instance, listed here are examples of what counts as voter fraud:
- Giving false info when registering to vote, together with within the identify of somebody who’s lifeless.
- Voting, or making an attempt to vote, regardless of being ineligible, or serving to another person strive to take action.
- Voting or making an attempt to vote greater than as soon as, or utilizing another person’s identify to vote.
- Altering a poll, in case you’re delivering it for another person.
- Receiving cash or a present for voting.
- Threatening somebody to cease them from voting, or to vote a sure means.
Examples of fraud by election officers:
- For a precinct board member to open or attempt to open a poll, or mark a poll to determine who the particular person voted for.
- To tamper with a voting machine, or fail to inform the Secretary of State earlier than there’s any change to a voting machine.
Fraud by campaigns and candidates:
- Campaigning inside 100 ft of a polling place.
- Utilizing taxpayer funds for campaigning.
- Not disclosing who pays for commercials — TV, radio, on-line or print.
In case you suppose you see fraud:
Election officers in California and lots of different states are paying extra consideration to fighting bogus claims of voter fraud. “We’re in a interval of monumental allegations and points which might be introduced ahead. And so we don’t take any of them flippantly,” Weber advised CalMatters. “However we strive to answer them shortly in order that they don’t unfold.”
Listed below are among the commonest myths:
Voter data
Claims of ballots being despatched to the flawed place or to somebody who died can gasoline rumors of fraud. Logistical mishaps do occur, particularly when individuals transfer loads. However there’s a state database that reveals whether or not somebody’s poll has already been submitted in one other county. The Secretary of State’s workplace additionally updates voter lists repeatedly, cross-checking them with state and native demise data, jail data and deal with adjustments.
Poll design
In final 12 months’s recall election, claims surfaced about whether or not holes in poll envelopes could possibly be used to see how somebody voted. The holes are to assist these with imaginative and prescient impairments know the place to signal their poll. Additionally they assist guarantee no poll is left uncounted inside an envelope.
“Poll harvesting”
In California, it’s authorized for registered voters to designate somebody to return their poll for them, so long as there isn’t any compensation concerned. Republicans have opposed the follow, citing an absence of safeguards. That’s the place signature verification applies. If the voter’s signature on the poll and their registration don’t match, the county will attain out to the voter. If somebody is caught manipulating ballots, they are often prosecuted.
Vote counting
Voters usually encounter misinformation about their ballots not being counted — for instance, that provisional ballots are solely counted in shut races, or that mail ballots are thrown out in the event that they arrive after Election Day. Each are false. You may observe your poll to see that it’s counted.
Voting gear
Through the 2020 presidential election, Trump falsely claimed voting machines made by Dominion Voting deleted “hundreds of thousands of votes” forged for him. There was one recognized error in Michigan involving a Dominion machine, but it surely was by an election official.
No voting gear might be linked to the web, to make sure cybersecurity. Voting machines in California have larger safety requirements than the federal authorities, in accordance with the California Voter Basis.
The brand new regulation enacted final 12 months to ship each registered voter a poll within the mail was a serious change to California elections. This 12 months, three different reforms have been additionally signed into regulation:
- Senate Invoice 1131 by Sen. Josh Newman, a Democrat from Fullerton, permits election employees to maintain their addresses confidential to guard them from harassment. A report from the California Voter Basis notes that 15% of native election officers have left the job since November 2020.
- Meeting Invoice 2815 by Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Democrat from Menlo Park, requires vote by mail poll drop-off areas at California State College campuses.
- AB 1631 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside, requires county election places of work to publish on their web sites a listing of precincts the place there are officers who converse a language aside from English and might help voters.
One invoice that failed — for a minimum of the fourth time since 2012 — was the most recent effort to develop on-line voting. Whereas supporters say that can make voting extra accessible, others oppose the thought because of its safety dangers.
And whereas new legal guidelines can enhance the voting course of, Ryan Ronco, president of the California Affiliation of Clerks and Election Officers, stated some consistency for just a few elections would ease the workload on elections officers, and likewise enable candidates and voters to “perceive what the foundations are proper now … and never really feel like issues might be modified as they’re enjoying the sport.”
Anybody might be an election observer, together with representatives of political events and of nonpartisan teams such because the League of Ladies Voters. You may enroll via your county elections workplace.
Permitting the general public to see every step of the voting course of — from gear testing via poll counting — is one important means to make sure integrity. Observers should observe some guidelines: Signing out and in, carrying a badge always, and never taking images or utilizing cell telephones whereas in a polling place.
However the proliferation of election fraud claims is resulting in extra incidents of harassment by election observers of official ballot employees. In late September, the California Voter Basis held a web-based briefing for election and regulation enforcement officers on methods to defuse conflicts at polling websites. Weber stated any assaults on ballot employees might be absolutely prosecuted. “In case you enable that to occur, you actually get to start to destroy the democracy,” she stated.
Ballot employees arrange polling locations, reply to voters’ questions and defend ballots and voting gear. However as a result of fears of harassment, in addition to ongoing issues about COVID-19, it hasn’t been straightforward to recruit ballot employees. Any U.S. citizen or authorized everlasting resident generally is a ballot employee, together with highschool college students 16 and older who’ve a minimum of a 2.5 GPA. Ballot employees obtain a stipend that varies by county. In Los Angeles County, it’s $100 a day, plus $80 for coaching time.
“Most polling place employees are retired,” Ronco stated. “They produce other choices and should not need to argue with individuals in regards to the politics of the day, or put themselves ready the place they’re going to be stressed.”
But, in these hyperpartisan occasions, some even fear that right-wing activists will attempt to infiltrate the ranks of ballot employees, undermining safety and public belief.
Different phrases chances are you’ll be listening to loads this election — misinformation and disinformation. Whereas they’re usually used interchangeably, there’s a key distinction — the intent of the particular person spreading it.
Misinformation is any type of false info, together with what individuals go alongside out of confusion or by mistake. Disinformation is fake info that’s unfold intentionally, and typically covertly, to affect public opinion or obscure the reality.
Listed below are some efforts to fight misinformation and disinformation:
From CalMatters politics intern Ariel Gans: Social media and know-how platforms are hotspots for spreading false claims, but there are no government regulations on how they deal with them. Constructing on what they did in 2020, Fb, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter are all boosting extra dependable info round candidates and voting of their customers’ feeds. They’re additionally eradicating false claims, labeling falsehoods and, in some circumstances, discouraging customers from spreading them.
Going into the 2022 election, not one of the high platforms fully ban election misinformation or have a definite disinformation coverage, in accordance with a research from the Anti-Defamation League. The efforts are additionally missing transparency: Not one of the platforms enable third events to completely audit their efforts.
Beginning with the 2020 election, each Twitter and TikTok have blocked political advertisements within the last days of campaigning. Fb will ban new ones in the course of the week earlier than Election Day. Google has additionally previewed new options that can elevate dependable sources in election-related searches.
In August, Twitter renewed its civic integrity policy, permitting the platform to label and limit tweets containing deceptive election info. Additionally in August, TikTok, whose consumer base jumped from 700 million to 1.5 billion because the second quarter of 2020, launched an elections heart that can join customers to respected election info.
However defending voters at this scale comes with challenges, consultants say. For instance, fact-checking might be time-intensive. And when platforms do take away unreliable content material, customers can get suspicious and hunt down unmonitored info elsewhere. Labeling this content material, however, may cause info to unfold even additional, a New York College research discovered.
Some platforms additionally make exceptions for outstanding individuals who unfold misinformation. Fb grants newsworthiness exemptions, whereas Twitter offers public interest exemptions.
The great CalMatters Voter Information has an in depth FAQ for voters. Listed below are some key factors on election integrity:
- You’re eligible to vote in case you’re a U.S. citizen residing in California, a minimum of 18 years previous and also you’re registered the place you presently reside.
- You may vote so long as you’re in line when polls shut.
- You’ve the correct to forged a secret poll.
- You’ve the correct to a brand new poll in case you have made a mistake, in case you haven’t already forged your poll.
- You will get assist casting your poll from anybody aside from your employer or union consultant.
- You’ve the correct to ask inquiries to elections officers about election procedures and watch the election course of.
- You’ve the correct to report any unlawful or fraudulent election exercise to an elections official or the Secretary of State’s workplace.
