California order Republicans to remove illegal ballot boxes

California's chief elections official on Monday ordered Republicans to remove unofficial ballot drop boxes from churches, gun shops and other locations and Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned those behind the vote tampering" could face prosecution. Republican refused, saying they are taking advantage of California's liberal ballot collection law that allows anyone to collect ballots from voters and deliver them to county election offices and may even add more.  California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said his office, in conjunction with the state justice department, issued a cease-and-desist order to the California GOP to remove the illegal ballot drop boxes that have appeared in Los Angeles County, Orange County and Fresno County.  

Padilla said the notice was also sent to the Republican parties in the three counties in question and gave them until Thursday to comply with the order to remove all the drop boxes. "If they refuse to comply, then of course we will entertain all of our legal options," Padilla said at a virtual press conference alongside State Attorney General Xavier Becerra.  The party declined to say precisely how many boxes have been distributed and where they all have been placed.

Due to the coronavirus and concerns about health safety at polling places, California for the first time mailed ballots for the November 3 election to all active registered voters more than 21 million people.The ballots come with pre-paid envelopes for voters to mail back, free of charge. State law also allows county election officers to set up drop boxes throughout the county where people can drop off their ballots in person.The controversy surfaced during the weekend after state election officials received reports of the boxes in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange counties, all areas with highly competitive US House races. Democrats have blasted the use of the unofficial boxes and say they fear Republicans could use them to gather and discard ballots.