EIPCa: California Secretary of State Investigating Double Voting in March Primary

SANTA CLARITA, Calif., April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A sample of votes cast in California's March 3, 2020 election exposed 15 registrants whose voting histories show that each cast two vote-by-mail ballots in that election, according to official data. Election Integrity Project, California (EIPCa) documented these findings in letters to the Secretary of State (SOS) and relevant county registrars. The SOS confirmed in an April 7 letter the persons are indeed registered twice, are "...suspected of having cast two ballots" apiece, "...and these will be forwarded to investigators..." In one case, it was confirmed that "...both ballots [were] opened and counted..."

The confirmed double voting problem arose from duplicated registrants-- the same person registered two times--who were sent two vote-by-mail ballots because the system lists them as two different voters.

Overall, 15 sets of duplicated registrants bearing apparent double voting histories were confirmed by the SOS and handed to investigators for further research. EIPCa has since found 75 more incidents of suspected double voting and will report these to the SOS.

California is required by federal law to ensure that duplicated registrations are removed from its voter list, but the state's VoteCal system has failed to rectify thousands of duplicates. EIPCa has identified more than 38,000 duplicated registrations statewide, most of which show the same voter name, address and birthdate. Many other duplicates contain transpositions of first and last names ("John Smith" and "Smith John") and simple typos. Others include persons registered under both married and maiden names and those who are registered in multiple counties. Many registrations appear to be duplicated by the DMV voter registration system.

California has a duty to clear its voter list of duplicate and defective registrations before all active status registrants are sent ballots in an all-mail election scenario in November.

"We are thankful to the Secretary for recognizing the seriousness of our report and for taking action," said EIPCa President Linda Paine. "As California, and the nation, weighs Coronavirus-related proposals to mail ballots to all registrants for the November Presidential election, it's clear that any plan for mass voting by mail must first include strict enforcement of laws requiring accurate voter lists."

SOURCE Election Integrity Project, California (EIPCa)