Latest news with #ElectionIntegrity
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tulare County Supervisors respond to grand jury election integrity report
Tulare County Board of Supervisors formally responded to the findings and recommendations in the 'Election Integrity' section of the "Tulare County Civil Grand Jury Final Report, 2024-2025" at a July 15 meeting. In its Election Integrity section, the Tulare County Civil Grand Jury found that, 'there is tremendous oversight and regulation from the offices of the secretary of state and the (Tulare County Registrar of Voters) related to the entire election process.' Supervisors previously responded to the findings and recommendations in the 'Homeless Shelters,' 'Special Districts,' and 'Library Book Machines' sections of the report at their June 3 meeting. Proposed responses to the grand jury report were presented at both meetings by Israel Sotelo, Jr., the board's chief of staff. Responses to grand jury reports are required by the California Penal Code. More: Tulare County supervisors respond to grand jury findings; here's what they said Tulare County Grand jury findings The grand jury found that, 'The checks and balances employed were found to minimize the chance of widespread fraud that would impact the results of an election, and provide clear evidence to debunk many of the claims of election fraud.' 'We agree with this finding,' responded supervisors, who also agreed with the grand jury that, 'There is a need to further inform the electorate of the process in place to ensure the election and to encourage them to volunteer to be involved with (Tulare County Registrar of Voters) during election season.' There was a mixed response to the grand jury's final finding, however. 'It is believed with personal identification requirements, residency addresses, and requirements to have email and phone numbers are a strong safeguard against registration of fraudulent individuals to vote,' stated the grand jury's report. 'We partially disagree with this finding,' supervisors responded. 'The board recognizes that voter identification requirements are a strong safeguard against registration of fraudulent individuals to vote. Title 52 of United States Code Section 21038, and California Elections Code Section 2150 require individuals registering to vote for the first time to provide their current and valid driver's license number, or state identification number on the affidavit of registration.' The supervisors' response stated that also requiring mail and phone numbers, 'add no value in safeguarding against the registration of fraudulent voters.' Grand jury recommendations The grand jury recommendations included actions based on its findings. The grand jury recommended that the registrar of voters and other county agencies fund and organize public awareness of the multiple procedures in place to eliminate the "misconceptions of deceased people voting, unregistered voters casting votes, individuals voting numerous times, and breaches of data from the voting machines.' More: Why Tulare County supervisors named themselves to the Tulare Cemetery District Board The recommendation hasn't been implemented but will by January 2026, ahead of the primary and general elections, supervisors said. 'The Tulare County Registrar of Voters will create a fact sheet encompassing all relevant topics to distribute to registered voters in order to dispel misconceptions of widespread voter fraud in Tulare County," supervisors stated. The registrar of voters is also being asked to create a "robust campaign "outlining the opportunities to become involved as a volunteer during the election season. 'This recommendation has been implemented,' supervisors stated. 'The Tulare County Registrar of Voters regularly attends community events such as job fairs and senior day in the park to encourage individuals to register to vote and volunteer as poll workers. The ROV also posts flyers at community centers, DMVs, post offices, libraries, and church bulletin boards encouraging individuals to volunteer their time at the polls, and will be reaching out to business that encourage employee participation in community service activities such as Target, Kohl's, Saputo Cheese, and Dutch Bros.' The final recommendation was that volunteer information 'could be distributed via fact sheet in monthly utility bills or presentations to churches or civic groups.' However, that recommendation will not be implemented, according to the board. 'The cost and relative benefit of including a flyer in monthly utility bills is unjustifiable as most individuals receive their bills electronically," supervisors stated. "Similarly, the cost in overtime wages associated with presenting to local churches during their weekly meeting is unjustifiable, and increased awareness about volunteer opportunities can be accomplished through existing practices.' Read the full report: Tulare County Civil Grand Jury Final Report, 2024-2025 by eroberts on Scribd Note to readers: If you appreciate the work we do here at the Visalia Times Delta, please consider subscribing yourself or giving the gift of a subscription to someone you know. This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Tulare County Supervisors respond to grand jury about election integrity Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kern County extends Dominion Voting System contract for 2 years
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Board of Supervisors approved a contract extension for the controversial Dominion Voting System. Election Integrity advocates have had complaints and mistrust of Dominion systems since the 2020 election. But the contract expired, and with a bill going through legislature right now to separate the Registrar of Voters from the Auditor-Controller's office a decision had to be made. Applause and thank you's filled the supervisors chambers Tuesday, approving a two year contract extension for the Dominion voting Systems. A stark contrast from when the contract was renewed three years ago, when the board chambers erupted into chaos. The elections office, election integrity advocates, and Supervisors David Couch and Leticia Perez are all on a committee to talk about voter related issues, this decision came out of that committee. In January, the board decided to split the Auditor-Controller with the Registrar of Voters, due to community concerns that it was too much work for just one person. 'As the auditor our job is to help those departments in safeguarding taxpayer money and I do take that part of my job very seriously,' said Aimee Espinoza, Kern's Auditor-Controller-Clerk and Registrar of Voters. The bill has to go through the state assembly, which hasn't acted yet. Then a new Registrar of Voters can be appointed by the board. The over $580,000 dollar contract extension lasts until December 31st 2027, which would cover the elections next year. Reasoning for extending the contract is to let the new Registrar of Voters decide whether to keep the Dominion system or change to a different one. 'The new ROV coming in maybe a year or year and a half that they have all the opportunities to correct the ship if you will,' said Charles Shinn of the Concerned Citizens Group. There are currently three voting systems approved by the Secretary of State, Dominion, Heart, and ESNS. 'The majority of counties use dominion and the majority of the top 15 largest counties use dominion,' said Espinoza. At the end of the contract, the appointed ROV would start a contract process and start to look at the different approved systems. While election integrity advocates are happy about the news, they still say that there issues currently lie at the secretary of state, because the voting system options are limited. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LO council candidate arrested on illegal electioneering charge
Unsuccessful Live Oak city council candidate Cruz Fuentes Mora was arrested July 4 on suspicion of illegal electioneering during the Nov. 2024 election. The 26-year-old Mora was reported to the Sutter County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) by a Sutter County precinct inspector last November. The precinct inspector reported Mora was 'interfering with the election by wearing a campaign shirt and video recording inside the polling place with his cell phone,' the SCSO wrote in a press release on July 7. 'It should be noted that observers shall not display any election material or wear campaign badges, buttons or apparel or intimidate a voter by means of photographing, video recording, or otherwise recording a voter entering or exiting a polling place, or at the central county location,' officials said. A warrant was issued for Mora's arrest. The SCSO said that he was located riding his bike in Live Oak and booked into the Sutter County Jail without incident. He is accused of violating a section of the California Elections Code that restricts activities at polling places on election day. Mora was released after his booking on the misdemeanor charge.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
RNC sues over Arizona voter registration law
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Arizona GOP have filed a lawsuit seeking to block an Arizona law that allows military and other temporarily absent overseas voters to cast ballots without providing proof of citizenship directly to the state. 'Arizona's elections should be decided by Arizonans, not by individuals who have never lived a single day in this country,' RNC Chair Michael Whatley said in a statement Monday. 'Democrats want to cheat in our elections by allowing votes from people who have never established legal residency.' 'The RNC is defending the rights of Arizona voters to stop this unconstitutional law in its tracks,' he added. The Arizona law, adopted in 2023, allows some overseas U.S. citizens who have not lived in the Grand Canyon State but have a parent who is a registered Arizona voter to cast ballots through a federal write-in system created under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) of 1986. The 1986 act applies only to presidential and other federal elections, but some states have extended provisions from it to apply to state and local elections. Arizona's law allows county registrars to accept the federal form in lieu of a separate state affidavit. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes's (D) office didn't immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment on the GOP's lawsuit. The Arizona election law was reviewed by the Supreme Court last August, when justices sided with the RNC and Arizona GOP leaders' argument that proof of citizenship should be required for state voter registration forms. But the high court also upheld the portion of the law that allows overseas voters to cast ballots by mail without confirming citizenship to the state if they meet other federal registration requirements. Arizona became a hotbed for Republicans' election law challenges after President Trump lost the state to former President Biden in the 2020 cycle. Trump won support from the majority of Arizona voters four years earlier and won the state again last fall. Multiple Republicans have faced defamation claims, obstruction charges and conspiracy allegations over unfounded objections to Arizona election results in recent years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report: Voter confidence in election systems high, but more education needed
Getty Images Voters in Michigan had a high opinion of the 2024 election being accurate, fair and secure, both before and after the election took place, and appear to have the same confidence in the upcoming 2026 election, according to a new poll that was hailed Thursday by a partisan group. Poll findings released this week from Glengarrif Group showed that eight in 10 voters – from a sample size of 800 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.5% – felt that the upcoming election to select the three top heads of state; governor, attorney general and secretary of state, would be equally secure and fair. The results of the poll, which was conducted during the first week of June, were released in conjunction with an event on Thursday at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. The panel featured members of the Democracy Defense Project, including two former Michigan governors, a former congressman and others. Glengarrif Group noted that nearly 76% of Michigan voters said the November 2024 election was fair, and that 88% of voters said they trusted their local elections, which is a 10-percentage point increase from those who answered a related poll in October 2024. That said, nearly 57% of voters who engaged with the poll said they were at least somewhat concerned about noncitizens voting in state elections, with nearly 36% also saying they were very concerned about that issue. Only 21% of respondents, however, said voters should show an ID to vote, which is already required by Michigan law, and a slim 7.7% said voters should show proof of citizenship. That polling on some voters' feelings on citizenship as a prerequisite to vote serves as a counterpoint to Michigan Republican efforts to get a constitutional amendment requiring proof of citizenship in order to cast a ballot. The lead sponsor of that movement is state Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford), who told Michigan Advance in late May that he believed 85% of the state's population agreed that only U.S. citizens should vote in statewide and national elections. That said, Posthumus' aim was to put that question before the voters in 2026, giving the voting populace a chance to say whether they believed only U.S. citizens should vote in Michigan's elections. It is still an open question if a large enough group of Michigan voters want to make that a constitutional requirement. At Thursday's forum to announce the poll findings, former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard said the state's residents should be proud of the professionalism of local election workers, regardless of the political outcome. 'As with any election, people will have strong feelings about the outcome and the winners,' Blanchard said. 'One thing our poll clearly shows is that despite those feelings, Michigan voters are confident in our election system, especially the work of our local and county-level officials and the many hardworking volunteers who provide support at precincts in communities across Michigan.' Former Republican Michigan Gov. John Engler also said that the state's voters appear overwhelmingly satisfied with existing election processes. Engler went on to say that more education was needed to bring them up to speed on what measures are already in place to ensure secure and safe elections. 'In the past few years, we have seen clerks from both parties actively engaging voters from all backgrounds in their communities – Republicans, Democrats and independents,' Engler said. 'At the same time, local media outlets have covered these events and supported civic public education that benefits all of us, and we encourage them to build on these efforts.' Engler's comments come at a time when some Republican state lawmakers remain committed to pushing the falsehood that the 2020 and 2022 elections were unfair and are working to relitigate the outcome of those elections despite recent polls like the Glengarrif offering and other assurances through the years. Former Lt. Gov. John Cherry, a Democrat, said the Glengarrif poll was striking because it was the first time polling has been done where a majority of voters from all backgrounds said they were satisfied with the 2024 results and looked confidently ahead to 2026 – all while acknowledging that existing safeguards were working. 'Where voters say they want to see changes, that list is very narrow,' Cherry said. 'We believe that by working together, in a bipartisan way, Michigan policymakers can find reasonable, commonsense and cost-effective ways to address voters' concerns.' Former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop of Rochester said the poll was evidence that voters of all political leanings wanted to be in the driver's seat for local, state and national elections, and not politicians in Lansing. That said, Bishop did say he believed that the proof of citizenship responses in an open-ended portion of the poll shows there is an appetite to move that measure across the finish line. 'Voters also have a real desire to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in our elections, and we encourage policymakers to explore solutions that keep our elections secure without putting up barriers that may prevent any eligible voter from exercising their right to vote,' Bishop said. Board members of the Democracy Defense Project proposed a solution to that conundrum: expand and support voter access to Michigan Enhanced IDs and driver's licenses. Both forms of enhanced identification indicate if someone is a U.S. citizen and are compliant with new federal requirements for REAL ID, which allow access to federal buildings, boarding planes and traveling domestically by air and other activities. In late May, the Michigan Department of State said it had issued 200,000 REAL IDs in the last few months. A REAL ID differs from Enhanced ID in that it does not indicate U.S. citizenship, so a pathway to getting the latter could ease citizenship and voting concerns.
