Excerpts:

Celebratory confetti blanketed the Grove on primary night, as developer Rick Caruso — then sporting a multipoint lead in the Los Angeles mayor’s race — declared his to be a “victory story.”

Across town in Highland Park, an exhausted Eunisses Hernandez had already headed home from her election night party at a local bar. Her opponent, incumbent Councilmember Gil Cedillo, was leading by more than 10 percentage points. Hernandez remained hopeful, though some supporters had begun mourning what they thought to be a loss.

But fortune can be a fickle mistress on election night.

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Concerns about the rise in political violence are reverberating from the White House to state Capitols to local elections offices.

In a pre-midterm elections speech Wednesday, President Joe Biden warned about threats to democracy and referred to the recent attack against Paul Pelosi in his San Francisco home, as part of an alleged attempt to kidnap House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta also expressed caution during a Wednesday news conference in San Francisco, urging elected officials to review their safety protocols.

"So many of us are shaken by the shocking incident involving Mr. Pelosi and are reevaluating security for elected officials, given the increased threats that we're seeing," said Bonta. "The threats are going up. Violence is going up."

So just how pervasive a problem is this?

Excerpts:

Marin County elections officials disqualified 1,405 mail ballots in the June primary election, according to data recently released by the California Secretary of State’s office.

That accounts for 1.7% of the 82,502 ballots submitted. Most of the rejected ballots — 1,212 — arrived late. By comparison, California disqualified 1.6% of its vote-by-mail ballots, or 105,818. Of those, 70,000 were late.

“If you can get your ballot in the mail early, that’s great, but using the official drop box or voter center is probably your best bet,” said Lynda Roberts, the Marin County registrar of voters. “Waiting until the last minute can create difficulty. Just don’t wait until the last minute.”

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 Vote-by-mail is underway as the November election inches closer, and it is not only issues and candidates on voters' minds.

Election integrity is center stage following the 2020s presidential election.

Out of the more than 800,000 vote-by-mail ballots Sacramento County sent to registered voters, it says about 60,000 came back so far.

Many voters told CBS13 they trust the system despite claims of an unfair presidential election in 2020.

"Well, so far, they haven't proven a damn thing," said Phillip D. Bangs of Citrus Heights.  

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Though, the reality is election deniers are thrusting election integrity into the spotlight.

So, what is being done to ensure no one votes more than once?