Update 10/17/2020 3:24pm:

Republicans in California were accused of setting up fake “official ballot boxes across the state that would mislead voters in the upcoming presidential election. Since then, the Republicans have been called out for their actions. Now, news surfaced, noting the California Republican Party will not comply with the cease-and-desist order sent by the state for the fake ballot boxes.

California Republican Party spokesman Hector Barajas spoke to CNN and said, “The ballot harvesting program will continue.” In a letter that was sent to the California Secretary of State to address their intentions with the ballot boxes, attorneys for the GOP said, “The California Republican Party did not promote, or authorize the promotion of, the secure boxes as 'official mail drop boxes.’ When we learned that a sign using the word 'official' was used in some locations on Saturday, October 10, 2020, we corrected that error immediately and within hours." Stay tuned for more details.

source: CNN


Update 10/13/2020 10:34am:

Previously, California republicans were accused of setting up fake “official” ballot boxes across the state for the upcoming presidential election. Now, the Republican Party has admitted to placing over 50 “official” drop boxes that are deceptively labeled in Orange County, Fresno, and Los Angeles. State officials noted the practice is illegal and could possibly spark voter fraud.

This past Monday, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla sent a cease-and-desist order to the republican parties on the state and county levels, ordering them to take away the misleading boxes. This comes after a regional field director for the California Republican Party posted photos of themselves dropping off their ballot at the misleading boxes for a candidate in Orange County, named Michelle Steel. Since then, the post has been deleted. Take a look above.

source: NY Times


Original 10/12/2020 4:55pm:

The California Republican Party is under fire after setting up and promoting unofficial ballot drop-off boxes at various locations in Southern California. State officials have pointed out that setting up the boxes is in violation of California law.

California law allows people to hand their ballots over to a designated third party, which the National Republican Congressional Committee used as a defense for setting up the boxes. They pointed to state Democrats have held "ballot parties" where attendees fill out mail-in ballots and leave them with volunteers who can submit them. The National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted that California Democrats were "only ok with ballot harvesting when it’s the Democrats ballot harvesting." 

Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley weighed in on the situation, revealing that the ballot boxes are being investigated. He released a statement, which reads: "We are looking into this and the CA Secretary of State has also issued guidance confirming unofficial ballot drop boxes are not in compliance with state law. Third-party ballot collections are allowed, but a voter must designate someone to return their ballot on their behalf."

Source: Newsweek