Rod Thomson

Almost a year ago, I wrote an article under the headline, “California: A Growing Threat to the American Republic” which some people thought to be a bit of hyperbole, a bit over the top.

It was neither hyperbole nor over the top. As is becoming all too clear on a regular basis, the warning is being borne out. The latest step in this growing stampede to undermine America came with the revelation that a “barely noticed” California law allows what is euphemistically called “ballot harvesting” — but in practice throws the door wide open for what is better known as “ballot stuffing.”

This is the single biggest reason why every contested California Congressional race that Republicans won on election night — some by as much as 14 percentage points, a huge margin — were overturned during the next three to four weeks of continual ballot counting. It’s why solidly red Orange County, California flipped to totally blue. It’s why the Democrats went from picking up 26 seats on election night to 40 a month later. Almost all of those late-changing flips were in California.

And they were the direct result of ballot harvesting.

It’s worth noting that this bill — “passed as a barely noticed change in the state’s vote by mail procedures in 2016” — was all but ignored by the mainstream media. We needn’t wonder why. That cat is long out of the bag on media loyalties. But the Democrats who passed it sure noticed it and they trained their thousands of people to get out and start “harvesting.”

Orange County GOP chair Fred Whitaker wrote after the wave of overturned Republican victories:

‘The number of election day vote-by-mail drop-offs was unprecedented — over 250,000. This is a direct result of ballot harvesting,’ Whitaker wrote. ‘That directly caused the switch from being ahead on election night to losing two weeks later. … We have to develop a response to this new law that allows us to remain competitive while recognizing the realities of Republican voter attitudes towards handing over their ballot.’

Here’s how ballot harvesting works. The California law allows third parties to pick up ballots from Californians — going house to house for voters of their choice — and drop them off at polling places, theoretically on behalf of the voters. These third parties were not the local garden club or a civic association. They were trained Democratic operatives.

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The Daily Caller, which also has video evidence from Redstate of a Democrat going door to door to collect ballots long after the election, dug into this deeply corruptive law. They wrote:

As the polls closed on election day last month, six California Republican House candidates, including Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Steve Knight, and Mimi Walters, were ahead in their respective races. However, as the absentee and provisional ballots rolled in over the intervening weeks, all six lost to their Democratic opponents.

The case of Korean-American GOP candidate Young Kim was one of the most prominent examples. On election night, Kim held an 8,000 vote lead over her Democratic opponent Gil Cisneros, and even attended freshman orientation in Washington, D.C. before watching her lead, and her victory, slowly evaporate over the subsequent weeks.

Her 8,000-vote lead represented 14 percentage points. She lost by a solid 4 percentage points to her male opponent. (Year of the woman, you know.) These were the results that caused Speaker Paul Ryan to tell Washington Post:

“California just defies logic to me…We were only down 26 seats the night of the election, and three weeks later, we lost basically every California contested race. This election system they have — I can’t begin to understand what ‘ballot harvesting’ is.”

It’s self-evident that this new practice of ballot harvesting is a prescription for fraud and abuse. It’s hard not to imagine that was part of the purpose for it, it’s just so obvious. Ballot harvesting is so infested with fraud that it is outright illegal in almost every state. A few states will actually put you in jail if you do it.

One of the army of workers Democrats recruited was a woman named “Lulu,” who was captured on a home surveillance camera trying to “harvest” what she thought was a Democratic voter’s ballot in Rep. Knight’s district. Lulu told the people through the closed door that it’s a new service for “like, people who are supporting the Democratic Party.”

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The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 250,000 harvested ballots were used in Orange County alone. That totally explains the sweep. It also worked in making the two-thirds super-majority in the California Legislature a near “mega-majority” of three-quarters.

But this ballot harvesting is only the latest in a series of seemingly overt attempts to undermine democracy in California, which then affects the nation as a whole. Because it combines with the state’s open borders attitude and sanctuary state laws.

A year ago, we wrote:

California’s immigration intransigence and progressive disregard for the rule of law is making the nation’s largest state potentially an actual threat to the American Republic.

It’s not about their highest taxes in the nation, or their business-crushing regulations. Those mostly place heavy burdens and consequences on the citizens — well, maybe citizens — who vote into office such reckless progressive politicians.

No, it’s about two major directions the state is taking that are almost duty-bound to bring it into conflict with the republic, if there is the fortitude by the federal government and other states to force the issue.

The two primary issues are these:

➜ Sanctuary for illegal immigrants

California started the sanctuary city lawlessness way back in 1971 in radicalized Berkeley and slowly more cities joined the subversion. But as of Jan. 1, 2018, the entire state of California is now a full-scale sanctuary locale. So no California state, California county or California city law enforcement officers can work with, cooperate with, or turn over known illegal immigrants to federal immigration officials — including illegal immigrants that commit crimes.

California leadership has learned nothing from the heinous case of Kate Steinle, who was shot to death in 2015 in San Francisco by an illegal immigrant who, instead of being turned over to federal agents requesting him, was set free and committed the crime. Apparently they see bigger plays at stake than simply protecting people.

But even that is no longer enough. Democratic state leadership is making it clear that not only will they protect and even promote the interests of illegal immigrants within their borders, they are threatening to prosecute Americans who help federal ICE agents enforce the actual law.

This is the governmental attitude that is a powerful part of the equation.

So California, home to at least 2.3 million illegal immigrants — or maybe twice that number, literally — is going to become home to an awful lot more. Once across the border into California, they are here to stay as long as they want. Further, California will graciously provide them schooling, medical care, other welfare benefits, and a driver’s license. Just slip in and head to the nearest California DMV office and you’re golden.

This marries into the next major direction that has the potential to cause even more disruption to the American republic.

➜ Massive voting fraud opportunities for illegal immigrants

California is baking into its laws, regulations and governmental attitude the opportunity for literally millions of Mexican nationals and other non-American residents to be voting in American elections. This has probably already happened at least in some small ways. The problem is, we don’t really know.

Democratic leadership is doing it on purpose and with purpose. There is no other way to look at it. The supermajority Democratic California Assembly and Governor are actively working — sometimes in plain sight, sometimes in a more shadowy, Deep State sort of way — to subvert American elections.

Original reports from World Net Daily that California will automatically register illegals to vote beginning April 1 when they get a driver’s license appear to be exaggerated. However, state actions and judicial rulings are continuing apace to ensure that some, probably many and one day perhaps millions of illegal residents will be casting votes in California.

The single biggest legislative step is known as AB60, the 2015 legislation that allows illegal aliens to get a license in California. Of course, a license is a primary form of identification. That information doesn’t get forwarded to be automatically registered to vote unless they are U.S. citizens. But here is the key: They don’t have to prove it. Just claim it. Check a box or not check a box. Or possibly just not “opt out” as the paperwork requires them to do if they do not want to be registered.

“You’re setting the state up for a disaster. They don’t seem to have a process in place to verify that people are who they say they are. It’s a free-for-all, a process that can be manipulated,” said Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote.

Constitutionalist KrisAnne Hall made the case last March that the states need to fight back against California. They have a right and a duty.

The Constitution is a legal contract between the States, specifically called a compact. This legal fact has been ignored for decades and has been subverted by deception and denial of testimony given by the drafters of the Constitution.

The federal government is the product of that compact, not a party to it. When a party of a contract is violating the terms of that contract it is not the responsibility of the product to seek remedy — it is the duty the parties to the contract to remedy.

California is a party to the Constitution with 49 other States. When California is creating laws establishing terms by which immigrants can obtain the benefits of citizenship, it is violating the terms of that agreement. In this situation, the injured parties are the other States, not the federal government. Therefore, it is incumbent upon those injured States to seek proper remedy and correction of California’s breach of contract.

Whether the states will or not is another question. It’s possible that President Trump will. Challenges in the courts will be in the Ninth Circuit, which is hopelessly politicized. They need to reach the Supreme Court. Because what California is doing cannot be allowed to stand.

Because it does not overstate it to say that voter fraud is being made “legal” in California, and that is an absolutely existential threat to America.

Rod Thomson is an author, TV talking head and former journalist, and is Founder of The Revolutionary Act. Rod is co-host of Right Talk America With Julio and Rod on the Salem Radio Network.

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