GOP: Voter Registrations Changed Without Consent

LA QUINTA – Two Republican leaders allege that the voter registrations of longtime registered Republicans are being changed without their consent ahead of the California Presidential Primary and a special election in the 28th Senate District on March 3.

Joy Miedecke, president of the East Valley Republican Women Federated (EVRWF) told Uken Report that more than 100 people contacted her in two days to complain their voter registrations had been changed.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, who is seeking the vacant 28th Senate District seat, said that California elected officials are purposefully disenfranchising Republican voters by switching them to no party preference without consent.

“We’ve had a flood of registered Republicans in SD28 receive notification that they’re now NPP,” Melendez wrote on Twitter. “They did not change their party. The Secretary of State appears to have done it for them anyway.”

“This is insanity,” Miedecke told Uken Report. “The Riverside County Registrar of Voters always screws up. They are trying to cover it up. This is about people’s registration being changed and them not knowing it. It is frightening.”

Neither Riverside County Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer nor Candice Gordon, a spokeswoman for the office, returned a series of three phone calls from Uken Report.

Miedecke said she contacted the Secretary of State’s office, which it denies. Miedecke said she “certainly” has contacted the Secretary of State’s Office. “They have a million employees. They are hiding.”

Sam Mahood, Press Secretary to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, told Uken Report. “I am not aware of any other complaint similar to the allegations of The East Valley Republican Women Federated.”

The Secretary of State’s office and county elections officials here to assist any voter by researching their voter registration records or assisting them in updating their voter registration. If any voter believes there is an issue with their registration, the Secretary of State and county elections officials are more than happy to research the voter’s record and provide necessary assistance, Mahood said.

“Our office has not been supplied any names of voters experiencing issues by either the East Valley Federation of Republican Women Voters or Assemblymember Melendez,” Mahood said.

Those concerned about their registration and party affiliation status are encouraged to review their information online by clicking here and make changes by clicking here. Voters can also make changes to their registration in person at their local county elections office or call 1-800-345-VOTE to request a new voter registration card.

Voters can also go to their polling places on Election Day to change their registration and request a provisional ballot for their desired party.

Republicans must be registered with their own party in order to vote for President Donald Trump and other Republicans in the March 3, 2020 primary, according to rules set by the state party.

Voters who are listed with “no party preference” have received postcards over the past month informing them that they can request a ballot for the Democratic, Libertarian or American Independent Party, which could lead some Republicans to think that they are intentionally being taken off the GOP voter rolls. The postcards must be returned by Jan. 21, 2020.

“Think of all the people getting those postcards,” Miedecke said. “Some who have been registered Republicans for 30 years have thrown them in the trash.”

As of Oct. 1, the most recent data available, there were 5,435,431 No Party Preference voters registered in California – more than Republicans. All of those should have received postcards.

There are several ways a California voter could have inadvertently – and unwittingly — switched parties that have nothing to do with the Registrar of Voters or Secretary of State’s office. They could have done it on their own and forgotten, mistakenly filled out a complex government form or had an election worker improperly enter their voter data.

Additionally, postcard recipients concerned they’ve been wrongly registered can still change their party affiliation and cast a ballot before Election Day, or even on Election Day.

 

 

 

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