News
By Michael Hernandez, 8-21-24
Editor’s note: We run this article in a Florida publication because California laws and legal actions often forecast what will be attempted here in the future.
MURRIETA, CA—“California laws and regulations have transformed an Election Day into a 60-day election season fraught with easy to manipulate procedures,” says Linda Paine, President of EIPCa in a press statement released Aug. 19.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa)’s efforts to ensure every lawfully cast vote is accurately counted. In their lawsuit, EIPCa accused California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber of enforcing unconstitutional election laws and regulations.
The lawsuit filed by EIPCa alleges that the Governor and Secretary of State violated constitutional election procedures by sending out mail-in ballots to every active voter in the registry and waiving signature verification requirements on those ballots. There were no requirements for uniformity, and thus, ballots were handled differently in different counties.
EIPCa received over 700 affidavits signed under penalty of perjury from EIPCa-trained observers who consistently reported election workers not adequately verifying signatures and, in some cases, counting ballots without signatures.
“The battle for fair elections is not over,” said Robert Tyler, legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom. “Fair elections are critical to representative government, and they need to be secure from unlawful interference. We believe that the court’s ruling fails to secure the integrity of our election process in California. We are committed to challenging this ruling with a request for En Banc review and possibly with a submission to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“For over a decade, Election Integrity Project®California has researched and documented every aspect of California’s election process and identified how California laws and regulations have transformed an Election Day into a 60-day election season fraught with easy to manipulate procedures,” says Linda Paine, President of EIPCa. “We are committed to protecting citizens’ rights to have their lawfully cast vote accurately counted!”
According to Paine: “The judges got it wrong!”
Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said, “A vote dilution claim requires a showing of disproportionate voting power for some voters over others and EIPCa has not made—and cannot make – that showing based on the facts alleged.”
Linda Paine: “Dilution of the vote is not the basis for the EIPCa lawsuit. It is unfortunate that talking points repeated over the years have been used to create a false understanding of what the EIPCa lawsuit is all about. Our lawsuit is not about dilution of the vote! The point of our lawsuit is to challenge the constitutionality of laws, regulations, and county policies and procedures used to manage elections and process ballots.
According to Linda Paine: “These judges continue to advance the old school (election issue) like dilution of vote or signatures don’t match. It is a much bigger lawsuit that the laws that the legislature put in place and the regulations that the Secretary of State puts forward and into place—impacts ballot processing and elections.
“The Constitution gives state legislators authority to determine date, time and manner of election management and ballot processing; however, it does not give them carte blanche authority to pass laws that create an election process that removes integrity from the process, is easily manipulated and results in invalid elections being certified.”
Paine said that EIPCa next steps will be to either appeal to an 11-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court or to go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, California’s November 3, 2020 election was marred by significant voting and registration irregularities:
- “Why are there almost 124,000 more votes counted in California’s Nov. 3, 2020 election than voters recorded as voting in that election? And why is most of the discrepancy driven by 116,000 vote-by-mail ballots with no apparent voter identified in VoteCal’s voting histories?
- “Why do more than 7,700 voters have two November 3, 2020 votes credited to their voting histories? These are two votes credited to each of 7,700 unique (non-duplicated) registration ID numbers in the state database. This indicates mass double voting, a significant programming error in the state’s registration voting system, or both.
- “Why does California have 1.8 million more registered voters than eligible citizens and why did his overage rise 72 percent in the 2020 election cycle?
- “Why does California’s online and DMV registration systems change 33,000 foreign-born voters’ birthplaces of record to “California” or “United States,” potentially masking non-citizens unlawfully registered to vote? Similarly, why were 76,000 birthplaces changed from another U.S. state to California?”
“EIPCa will continue our effort to work our way through the system until our evidence is actually reviewed by the courts.”
“For over a decade, Election Integrity Project®California has researched and documented every aspect of California’s election process and identified how “We are committed to protecting citizens’ rights to have their lawfully cast vote accurately counted!” said Paine.
The 14-Year Journey Of Election Integrity Project In California
Linda Paine, Founder and President of Election Integrity Project participating in an Aug. 21 Zoom hosted by the Golden State Republican Women outlined the journey of Election Integrity Project in California since 2010.
Paine, a homeschool mom, says her journey into election law began in 2008 during the fight for Proposition 8—the marriage proposition (stating marriage was between a man and a woman) which was passed by voters in November 2008. “We did phone tree calling and knocking on doors. Churches, schools, citizen groups, political groups worked together” as “California citizens were shocked into activism in 2008.”
Proposition 8 was later overturned in court by those in favor of same-sex marriages. However, same-sex marriages legally resumed on June 28, 2013 with a same-sex marriage officiated by California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris (the 2024 Democratic Presidential nominee).
“The Tea Party movement was started by citizens all over the country who were frustrated by legislators who passed (by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush) The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)” because the “United States government purchased toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector.”
The Tea Party movement of 2009 resulted in 2,400 Tea Party groups formed in California and citizens began to communicate and “coalitions began to work together throughout the state” as “we began to observe the election process” and became concerned. “We did email blasts, conference calls, in-person meetings, rallies—local and regional, meetings with legislators, issue-focused groups that formed as a result of coalition building.
“We then flew to Texas to look at Thru the Vote.” Thru The Vote is a vote-monitoring organization based in Houston, Texas founded in mid-2009 by Catherine Engelbrecht whose objective is to stop voter fraud. It was an offshoot of King Street Patriots, a Tea Party nonprofit, that was dissatisfied with the voting process in Harris County, Texas during the 2008 election, especially the shortage of poll workers.
“In 2010, Tea Party groups networked with citizens groups and political groups. Regional and Statewide coalitions were built all over the state.” Paine said: “Our SoCal Liberty Coalition observed the election process in six of the nine southern counties. We set up a Yahoo group to share what we saw and four of us met with an election law attorney.”
During those early years, Paine said she learned about the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) passed by Congress in 1993 which is also known as the “motor voter law” that sets forth voter registration requirements with respect to elections for federal office and requires voter registration opportunities at the State motor vehicle agencies (in California at the Department of Motor Vehicles as well as public assistance and disability offices).
Paine stated that provisional ballots and vote by mail has caused vulnerabilities in the election process as has federal election laws, state election laws, Secretary of State regulations and County Registrar of Voters policies and procedures.
Paine discovered the following:
- 2012: California voters cast approximately 40 percent of all Provisional ballots nationwide (Pew Research).
- 2016: California voters cast approximately 1.2 million of all Provisional ballots nationwide. Of the provisional ballots cast, 71 percent were counted either partially or in full.
(Note: A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there are questions about a given voter’s eligibility that must be resolved before the vote can count.)
Paine said: “Though the Constitution gives authority to state legislators to pass laws to manage elections and process ballots, they do not have carte blanche authority to pass laws that diminish the value of lawfully cast ballots.”
According to Paine, Election Integrity Project Ca was founded in June, 2017. EIPCa retained Landmark Legacy Foundation in 2017 to show attorney Mike O’Neil what happens to a state when citizens “cannot chose those who govern.” That same year, EIPCa retained Judicial Watch to sue the California Secretary of State and the Los Angele County Registrar for violation of NVRA voter list maintenance requirements.
In January, 2019, EIPCa won a settlement agreement that required California and Los Angeles to comply with NVRA requirements to remove inactive registrants.
“Our research of the data from October 2023 shows the state has actually removed 2.5 million inactive voters since 2020 in Los Angeles County and across the state. They are now down to 2.9 million.
“EIPCa is challenging California’s unconstitutional election laws passed by our legislators, regulations implemented by the Secretary of State, and procedures used by the Registrars to manage elections and process ballots. This lawsuit will set precedence. This is the first time in American history that a lawsuit like this has been filed.
“The success of EIPCa’s lawsuit is vital in restoring our Constitutional Republic and true self-governance. A win in California is a win in every state because laws that are unconstitutional in California are unconstitutional in all states.
“The case went to court May 10, 2021. A judge dismissed the case claiming EIPCa did not have standing. EIPCa filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. On Nov. 2022 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled EIPCa has strong standing and sent the case back to a judge who tried to dismiss the case.
“In 2023, defendants tried again to get the case dismissed. A judge dismissed the case claiming EIPCa’s 10,000 signed affidavits from 43 out of our 58 counties is nothing but ‘garden variety’ (ordinary or common-place).
“This is when EIPCa filed an immediate appeal with the 9th Circuit. That is when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against us on Aug. 15, 2024. EIPCa will continue our effort to work our way through the system until the evidence is actually reviewed by the courts.
“Citizen observation with a purpose—made it possible to document exactly how this unconstitutional system was put in place. Educated citizen observers will be needed to restore the Republic in 2024.”
To find out more about EIP-Ca got to the website: https://eip-ca.com/. Paine urged voters to read about the Citizen Observation Education Program, Citizens Incident Statement forms, “Vote Safe” articles, “Demystifying the Mysterious California Election Laws,” and “California and the Laws that Divide.”
“EIPCa as of Aug, 2024 has two lawsuits in the courts: 1 lawsuit getting ready to file soon, and 1 lawsuit planned for after the elections.
“EIPCa is part of a much larger story. The real story is about God’s providential hand in California. This is the story of amazing California citizens who rose to address the attack on the freedoms protected by the Constitution. It is the ongoing story of all you who continue to Keep the Republic.”
EIP-Ca is a tax-exempt, nonpartisan non-profit corporation. Donations are tax deductible https://www.eip-ca.com/index.htm
Michael Hernandez, from California is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes” and “Nov. 5 Election Day Countdown.”
