The Republican National Committee and two other Conservative parties also launched a complaint against California to prohibit the state from giving out absentee ballots to all residents ahead of the general election in 2020.
As part of the State ‘s reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom agreed to promote mail-in voting, especially for November’s presidential election.
The RNC opposes the push by the most populated state in the nation, rendering the action a major front in the Republicans-Democrats fight over the topic of mail-in votes.
Similar legal challenges in roughly a dozen states continue.
In his opposition to mail-in votes, Donald Trump has been particularly vocal, claiming that when used, there is widespread fraud, but without giving evidence. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel accused Democrats of exploiting the pandemic as an pretext for pursuing a political election platform, labeling the order of the governor as “the latest direct assault on the integrity of our elections.”
“Newsom’s illegal power grab is a recipe for disaster that would destroy the confidence Californians deserve to have in the security of their vote,”she said.
The president on Sunday accused Democrats of attempting to rig the 2020 election. He tweeted: “The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history.”
He continued: “People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and ‘force’ people to sign. Also, forge names. Some absentee OK, when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this Scam!”
There is no proof to support the argument that there is a connection between “thousands” of forgeries and voting by mail. There is little suggestion that people are required to register absentee ballots either.
In at least three elections since he took office, the president and his family have voted by mail. Mr Trump has described voting by mail as horrible and corrupt in an April exchange with a reporter. He said in an effort to balance the truth with his position: “Sure I can vote by mail…Because I’m allowed to.”
Condemning Democrats’ attempts to expand mail-in voting after April’s negotiations on a coronavirus stimulus package, Mr Trump told Fox News that if anyone was permitted to vote, ” you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” The National Republican Congressional Committee and the California Republican Party are joining the RNC in the lawsuit. The complaint charges that the governor’s policy “violates eligible citizens’ right to vote” and that it would result in voting irregularities because inactive voters may now be sent absentee ballots that could be misused.
In response to the suit, press secretary Jesse Melgar of Governor Newsom said in a statement: “California will continue to defend Californians’ right to vote, including their right to vote by mail, and the right to hold an election that is safe, secure, and accessible. Voters shouldn’t have to choose between their health and their right to vote.”
There has been no proof of systematic election irregularities detected in either in-person or mail-in polling surveys.
Mr Trump’s own election integrity advisory commission spent eight months, from May 2017 to January 2018, investigating voter fraud claims and not a single confirmed instance emerged.
A post-election Washington Post review of data found only four confirmed cases of electoral fraud: three people who tried to vote twice for Mr Trump — and were caught — and an election worker in Miami who was caught trying to fill in a bubble on someone else’s ballot for a local mayoral candidate. Earlier this month, House Democrats approved a $3trn coronavirus solution bill that provides $3.6bn for election protection and increased access to mail-in ballots.
In the republican-controlled Senate the bill is expected to languish.
