"California Republicans are determined to take back the four congressional seats they lost in Orange County in 2018, among the seven the party lost statewide.
"They have some political momentum, as Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats have proven incapable of doing anything except arguing about impeaching President Donald Trump.
"Unfortunately, the tactic of “ballot harvesting,” introduced last November, has made it impossible for Republicans ever to win again.
“ 'Ballot harvesting” involves using a third party, such as a well-trained political activist, to collect mail-in ballots on behalf of other voters and deliver them to the polls.
"There is no vetting of ballot harvesters, and no limit to how many ballots they can deliver.
"The tactic was legalized by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, over GOP objections. Hundreds of thousands of ballots were dropped off at polling places in 2018, making a difference in key races.
"Democrats argue that ballot harvesting is necessary to ensure equal access to the polls — just like other innovations, such as early voting and same-day voter registration. They say that anything that makes it marginally harder to vote is undemocratic.
"Democrats also accuse Republicans of trying to “suppress” the vote by pushing for safeguards to prevent fraudulent voting, such as requiring photo ID to vote or striking felons and non-citizens from voters’ rolls.
"It is worth noting that what Democrats are doing in California, which they want to export nationwide, is virtually unknown in the rest of the world.
"The international norm for democracy is in-person voting, with photo ID, and registration well in advance. Absentee voting tends to be restricted, and mail-in voting is rare." . . .
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