More wacko BS.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sd-california-more-voters-than-eligible-adults-claim-20170809-htmlstory.htmlJudicial Watch did not offer any data to back up its claim, and it declined to give the Los Angeles Times any details about its analysis, saying it may soon sue.
The claim, which Judicial Watch made in an Aug. 1 letter, has attracted curiosity and criticism and comes as Padilla has expressed a reluctance to hand over voter registration data to a White House panel tasked with investigating President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud in the 2016 election.
The letter and the claim by Judicial Watch had not drawn considerable attention until the conservative-leaning site Breitbart News published a story about it and a California assemblyman, Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, on Monday shared it on Twitter with the question, “How is this possible?”
A report in The Sacramento Bee offered this terse reply: “Short answer: It’s not.”
Here is a breakdown of how and why this claim gained wider attention and how election officials in California explain the discrepancy in voter registration numbers.
What exactly does Judicial Watch claim?
Judicial Watch says 11 counties in California are in violation of a section of the National Voter Registration Act that requires states to do a “reasonable list maintenance” of voter registration lists.
To support its argument, it compares population numbers in the 2011-2015 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to California’s registered voters — which combines those on active and inactive voter lists. By that calculation, 11 counties have more total registered voters than adults over the age of 18.
“In our experience, these kinds of registration rates indicate a failure to comply with the voter list maintenance requirements of the NVRA,” the letter says, adding that such inaccuracies undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
What do election officials say about it?
The question revolves around the inclusion of California voters who are deemed “inactive.”
Inactive voter lists are made up of people who may have had their mail ballots or other voter documents returned as undeliverable, The Sacramento Bee explained. That can happen when someone moves or dies.
Here’s how the Bee elaborated on that:
Judicial Watch’s claim rests on its inclusion of “inactive voters” – people who have been removed from active rolls after a mail ballot, voter guide or other official document was returned as undeliverable – usually as a result of moving. They aren’t reflected in turnout tallies or signature-gathering requirements, don’t receive election materials, and are ignored by campaigns.
Los Angeles County’s registrar of voters, Dean Logan, explained to the Bee that the names on the inactive voter list are kept as a “fail-safe” so as to not disenfranchise or discourage voters.
Combining “inactive voter” and “active voter” lists could result in a higher total number of registered voters that Judicial Watch says raises suspicions.
Logan and Gail Pellerin, the Santa Cruz County registrar of voters, told the Los Angeles Times that very few people on the “inactive voter” list actually show up to vote. As few as 12 people, out of 44,172 people on Santa Cruz County’s inactive list, showed up to vote in November, Pellerin said.
Update: San Diego County’s registrar of voters, Michael Vu, on Thursday echoed the logic of his counterparts in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties.
He added that, “without sounding redundant to what my colleagues have stated, I would add that list maintenance of the San Diego voter rolls occurs diligently and on a daily basis and is done in accordance with State and federal law.”
What are the 11 counties being mentioned?
Imperial County (102 percent)
Lassen County (102 percent)
Los Angeles County (112 percent)
Monterey County (104 percent)
San Diego County (138 percent)
San Francisco County (114 percent)
San Mateo County (111 percent)
Santa Cruz County (109 percent)
Solano County (111 percent)
Stanislaus County (102 percent)
Yolo County (110 percent)
What are people saying about the claim?
Allen shared a Breitbart News story about the letter to his more than 6,000 followers on Twitter, but the biggest push came from Alex Jones whose Infowars online show attracts millions of viewers.
On Tuesday, Jones shared it with his more than 680,000 Twitter followers with the hashtag #WakeUpAmerica.
Some other conservatives who shared the story used the opportunity to criticize California’s reluctance to turn over voter data to Trump’s election commission.
Padilla and others, however, have countered that the commission — and Judicial Watch, too — is motivated by an agenda to upend the voting rights of Americans.
“To me, it's clearly part of a concerted effort, a continued attack on voting rights and setting the stage for the Trump administration to roll back voting rights,” Padilla told the Los Angeles Times.
So what is going to happen next?
Padilla has now twice rejected the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s request for voter data, joining a number of other states, and it’s unclear what the special panel will do to obtain the information.
Judicial Watch, however, gave Padilla 14 days from the date of the Aug. 1 letter to respond to its request to rectify the discrepancies between active and inactive voter data or else the group said it would sue.
Have some thoughts to share?
Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.
Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @RunGomez
Read The Conversation on Flipboard.
UPDATES:
Aug. 10, at 4:40 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from San Diego County’s registrar of voters, Michael Vu.
This article was originally published Aug. 9, 2017, at 6:00 p.m.
Copyright © 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune
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