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Yes, Threats Against Election Officials (and Voters) Are Real. But the Law Is Fighting Back, Says California Election Expert

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.

News Roundup: Long vote counts, drop box access & 11/7 Election Hero Day

Hi Folks,

The November 8th Election Day is rapidly approaching. Millions of Californians have already voted and millions more will return ballots or vote in person in the coming days, with many ballots returned via secure drop boxes operated by county election offices. 

This shift to the widespread use of vote-by-mail ballots has led to increasingly longer vote counts. In this newsletter, we share some new CVF research findings that illustrate just how much longer vote counting now takes as the number of ballots cast as vote-by-mail ballots has ballooned. 

"They are purposeful and deliberate": Election experts alarmed after MAGA attacks take a darker turn

Excerpts:

Wealthy Republican donor Robert Beadles offered two options to county commissioners when falsely accusing Nevada's Washoe County registrar of voters of counting fraudulent votes: "either fire her or lock her up."

Following the meeting, County Registrar Deanna Spikula's office was inundated with threats and harassing calls from people convinced she was part of an effort to rig the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump, according to an investigation by Reuters. 

Marin County rejected 1.7% of primary ballots, state says

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.

Sacramento County using Apple AirTags and more to increase election trust

Excerpts:

 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.

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