Concerning first-hand accounts of alleged voter fraud have surfaced in California, but the Associated Press reports these are “unsubstantiated claims” and have an “innocent explanation” related to computer malfunction.
When some voters showed up to vote in person, they found out that the computer system says they have already voted. The only problem is, they hadn’t actually voted yet.
Staffers were reportedly apologetic.
Los Angeles local affiliate KTLA reported, “Some San Fernando Valley voters think they are being wrongly prevented from casting a ballot in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election.”
“At El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills, some voters say they were told the computers showed them as already having voted, even though they had not,” the report continued.
“West Hills resident Estelle Bender, 88, said she was far from the only person who was being told incorrectly that they had already voted.”
“In addition to friends of hers who experienced the issue and two other women outside the polling place, Bender said that inside, ‘the man next to me was arguing the same thing,'” the report concluded.
“What the hell is going on in California?” one person says in reaction to the news.
Watch the news clip:
What the hell is going on in California?
Voter fraud. pic.twitter.com/tpqfWGW28l
— [email protected]🇺🇸 (@EricSpracklen) September 13, 2021
Despite these disturbing first-hand accounts of alleged voter fraud, the Associated Press says these concerns are “unsubstantiated claims that the race was rigged or compromised by misconduct.”
In an article titled “California Republicans push unfounded fraud claims ahead of recall election,” AP explains what happened by quoting attorney Harmeet Dhillon as well as the Los Angeles County Registrar.
Dhillon admits that she could not say whether California’s election is safe and secure. Dhillon was able to detail numerous problems that she said she and a team of attorneys monitoring the election have witnessed.
“There will be a lot of questions and potentially litigation after this election about this sloppy-at-best treatment of people’s ballots and their right to vote,” Dhillon said.
Regarding this specific problem in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, Dhillon admits, “Whether there is an innocent explanation for that or not, rumors spread like wildfires based on facts. Those facts are there are errors in voting in Los Angeles County.”
AP reported on the “innocent explanation” for the problem:
The Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office said the error was caused by some settings on computers used to check in voters before issuing ballots.
The office said those affected were allowed to cast provisional ballots, which act as placeholders until voter eligibility is determined.
That’s apparently the full explanation behind the troubling stories of voter fraud in California.
More from Associated Press:
Larry Elder, one of the leading Republican candidates seeking to replace Newsom if the recall succeeds, has said he believes “there might very well be shenanigans, as there were in the 2020 election.” His campaign website has a link to a “Stop CA Fraud” website where people can report suspicious voting activity or sign a petition demanding a special legislative session to investigate an election that isn’t even over…
Much of the GOP criticism of California’s elections has focused on the wide use of mail-in ballots, which have been automatically sent to all active registered voters for state elections since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. An overwhelming majority of California voters cast ballots by mail even before the pandemic, and no widespread voter fraud issues have surfaced.
As of Saturday, 7.8 million ballots had been cast, or nearly 35% of registered voters, according to Political Data Inc., a data firm that works with Democrats. Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office, said voting by mail is “trusted, secure and safe.”
“There are extensive protocols in place that ensure the security and verification of all returned vote by mail ballots,” Sanchez said. “The claims made disregard and misrepresent those safeguards. As a result, their messaging could be confusing to voters and discourage participation.”