California GOP admits to setting up unofficial ballot drop boxes

By Maia Irvin 

California's Attorney General sent the California GOP a cease-and-desist letter on Tuesday after the GOP acknowledged it placed about 50 unofficial ballot drop boxes in California. 

On Monday, the GOP admitted that it set up and advertised unauthorized drop boxes throughout Los Angelos, Fresno and Orange counties, according to The New York Times. 

The GOP has until Thursday to give the secretary of state's office the names, addresses and birth dates of people who have used the boxes, according to the letter that California's secretary of state and attorney general sent, The Washington Post reported. 

The Post reported that the GOP defended these boxes were legal under a 2016 law that legalized "ballot harvesting," which allows someone to turn in a ballot for another person. California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, said on Sunday that the boxes are not legal under this law, according to the Post.

"Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes...is not just misleading to voters, it's a violation of state laws," Padilla told the Post. 

Some states have expanded their number of drop boxes to provide people with a safe alternative to voting in person, the Times reported. 






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