Guess Who is Running the Election System in LA?

Independent journalist Ari Hoffman asked yesterday, "Who's running this disastrous voting system in Los Angeles County?"

Well, it's Dean Logan, who ran King County elections during the infamous 2004 governor's race.

Remember? 

Republican Dino Rossi won once. Dino Rossi won twice. 

Christine Gregoire won the third count after hundreds of votes were miraculously found.

We need "voter reform," right?

Yes. But Thomas Jefferson thinks we may need more than "reform."

Be informed, not misled.

Jefferson said, "When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption  and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil."

Monica Crowley posted on social media yesterday, "Literally no one believes the LA election 'results.' Another stolen election in broad daylight. Enough is enough. Pass the Save America Act, or our country is finished."

Via the Federalist. 

Socialist Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman appeared to concede defeat Tuesday night after it looked like Spencer Pratt would advance to the November runoff election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. But then votes kept pouring in days after the Tuesday election, and by Sunday evening, Raman had taken the lead over Pratt.

The 180-degree turn has left many scratching their heads: How does a candidate who was down by roughly 40,000 votes suddenly jump to second place after she herself publicly signaled her path to victory had all but disappeared? (Raman currently leads Pratt by more than 20,000 votes, after post-election ballot dumps have gone overwhelmingly in her favor.)

Leftist "Deadline" said, "(Updated with Karen Bass & Spencer Pratt statements) Donald Trump‘s election conspiracy temper tantrum on NBC’s Meet The Press aside, the roller coaster drama in the Los Angeles Mayoral remains unmatched almost a week after polls closed in the City of Angels."

In a true Hollywood reversal of fortune that could end up in a recount or in court, Nithya Raman has taken the number #2 spot over Spencer Pratt for the November run-off.

Gaining on the MAGA endorsed ex-Hills villain (Pratt’s self-definition, not ours) over the past few days, the LA City Council member for the 4th District now has 196,198 votes to Pratt’s 193,085, according to the latest count.

As we now know, the second spot on the mayoral ballot has been called for Raman, not Spencer Pratt.

For NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker, however, questions about such outcomes are apparently evidence of nothing more than public ignorance. During a Sunday interview, President Donald Trump said the 2020 election was “rigged” (and he’s right — but more on that later) and that the same rigging is happening in California.

“Where’s the evidence to that?” Welker asked, repeatedly claiming the days-long vote counting is just how California does elections. But in Welker’s eager dismissal, she glossed over some glaring flaws in California’s electoral system that raise the concerns of any American capable of critical thinking.

The Federalist notes that "As of Sunday, Raman had seen a swing of roughly 43,000 votes since election night. Pratt questioned the ballot dump on X: '43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before…? Probably nothing.' Below that message, he included a screenshot from a March article stating there are roughly 43,000 homeless people in Los Angeles."

Regardless of whether the two numbers are related, California has a history of irregularities when it comes to homeless persons voting or registering to vote.

California has a history of corruption in voting.

Notably, 64-year-old Brenda Lee Brown pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of paying a person to register to vote after she allegedly paid homeless people on Skid Row to “help get initiatives on the ballot,” the Los Angeles Times. According to her plea deal, Brown “would give people on Skid Row two to three dollars — or, sometimes, a cigarette or a phone cord — in exchange for their signature to help qualify a measure for the ballot,” the Times reported. Armstrong “would also register neighborhood residents to vote, sometimes using her former home address, according to court records.”

In 2020, two people were charged for allegedly submitting thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications on behalf of homeless persons in Los Angeles County, according to NBC 4, Los Angeles.

While none of that means it’s happened now in this race, it does prove that concerns about election administration and integrity shouldn’t be automatically dismissed — unless, of course, you’re Welker.

As a whole, California’s election rules raise skepticism because they appear corrupt.

The state allows all ballots postmarked by Election Day to be accepted up to 7 days after the election, creating an election process in which counting can continue for days after Americans believe an election is over. If a ballot is missing a postmark or if the postmark is disputed, officials can “just go by whatever date the voter wrote inside the envelope,” election expert Hans Von Spakovsky told Fox News.

California’s still-unsettled election results are the consequence of the state’s vote-by-mail system, according to election law expert Hans von Spakovsky, who said the process can keep ballots moving through verification and counting for days and even weeks after Election Day.

Von Spakovsky identified what he said were the four causes for the delay in final tallies:

1. Mass mail voting
2. Seven-day post-Election Day ballot receipt window 
3. A 22-day cure period for signature issues
4. High volumes of provisional ballots that must be individually investigated.

Of the four causes of the delay, von Spakovsky said California’s mail-ballot rules cause the greatest concern because it dramatically slows the counting process.

Takeaway

The Federalist’s Sean Davis said on The Megyn Kelly Show, when discussing California’s election system, it’s hard to believe that allowing voters to submit ballots missing a verifiable way to assure the ballot was submitted on or before Election Day, but still counting those ballots makes for a “credible, secure” election. 

“There is only one reason to design an election in this way, and it’s to control the outcome,” Davis continued. 

Thomas Jefferson once said, "The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered."

Be Informed. Be Discerning, Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.