California Secretary of State Alex Padilla confirmed double-voting via mail-in ballots occurred during the Super Tuesday primary vote last month.
Padilla said there was one confirmed case of double-voting and 12 instances of suspected double-voting by registered voters identified with “duplicate voting history,” according to Breitbart.
Citizen watchdog group Election Integrity Project California sent a letter to Padilla ahead of Super Tuesday requesting his office look into possible double-voting during the primary election.
“Election Integrity Project California has an incredible accomplishment here. Moving the California Secretary of State to share evidence of apparent double voting among duplicated registrants is a testament to their research methodology and judgment,” Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams said.
“Duplicate registration and voting is a growing problem nationally that is being confronted like seen here, New Mexico, Michigan, and Pennsylvania,” he added.
The issue of voter fraud has been debated in the media as Democrats push for vote-by-mail funding in light of the coronavirus. A report this week stated that more than 28 million mail-in ballots were unaccounted for in the last 10 years. A Heritage Foundation study from last year also found over 1,000 documented cases of voter fraud that yielded over 900 convictions in 47 states.
Democrats tried to include a specific provision for vote-by-mail funding in the $2 trillion coronavirus economic relief package Congress passed in March. The final bill included $400 million to help states prepare for upcoming elections but did not make specifications for voting by mail.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been a vocal advocate of mail-in voting since the coronavirus began sweeping across the nation.
“The integrity of the election system is central to our democracy,” she said in March. “How anyone could oppose our enabling the states to have vote-by-mail raises so many other questions, but let’s just be hopeful and have public opinion weigh in on that.”
President Trump pushed back on expanding vote-by-mail elections, citing fraud, and telling reporters that “thousands of mail-in ballots” are thrown out.
“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it,” he tweeted Wednesday. “Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”
