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Election watchdog alleges state's voting practices are unconstitutional

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Friday, November 22, 2024

Election watchdog alleges state's voting practices are unconstitutional

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Attorney Joshua Kroot | provided

If the Election Integrity Project (EIP) has its way, U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr will issue an order requiring state officials to decertify November 2020 election results and allow an inspection of all voting machines by subject matter experts.

“It would certainly be evidence of the issues with the way that elections are currently being held in California,” said attorney Josh Kroot about potential irregularities that would be uncovered if such an inspection occurred in the future.

EIP, an election watchdog, sued various county election officials along with former Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Central District of California, alleging the state’s voting practices are unconstitutional.


Kroot

“Through the entirety of the process, there are many issues that are unconstitutional, both facially and in the way they're applied,” said Kroot, who signed and filed the federal lawsuit.

The issues alleged in the Jan. 4 complaint include unremedied irregular voter rolls, voting machine vulnerabilities, invalid ballots, and live vote-by-mail ballots being sent to deceased persons, non-citizens, and non-residents.

“This is a non-partisan suit,” Kroot told the Southern California Record. “It's not directed towards achieving the reversal of any outcome for any particular candidate nor is it even directed at any single election, even though much of the evidence that we have relates to the November 2020 election. It's meant to ensure the integrity of elections going forward for all eligible California voters.”

The complaint, which further alleges that executive orders signed by Gov. Newsom and emergency legislation are unconstitutional because they bypassed traditional legislative approval, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.

“It would be a declaration that certain statutes and regulations that have been put into place are unconstitutional, either on their face or as they've been applied, which should ensure that other elections are conducted with more integrity going forward because those statutes and regulations would not be applied in an unconstitutional way in the future,” Kroot said.

Upcoming statewide elections include a special primary on March 2 for State Senate District 30 and a direct primary election on June 7, 2022. County elections can be viewed on the Secretary of State website.

“What’s at stake is the same thing that's at stake in every election and that is the ability of eligible voters to have their vote counted and treated equally to the votes of other eligible voters,” Kroot added. 

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