Rep. Darrell Issa said in a fundraising appeal Wednesday that he is mounting an effort to challenge the legality of some ballots still being counted in his tight re-election race.

A similar move to question certain ballots is being carried out by the campaign of his Democratic opponent, Doug Applegate.

Both campaigns say such efforts are routine in close elections. Issa, however, made the claim in his message that “liberals are trying to steal the election.”

The Vista Republican said that he led by just under 2 percentage points but that he expects that lead to shrink.


“The truth is, there are enough ballots left to be counted that I could still lose. I am optimistic that’s not going to happen though,” he said in the message. (See full text below.)

Elections officials in Orange and San Diego counties are in the process of counting late-returned mail-in and provisional ballots.

It’s unclear how many votes still remain to be tallied in the 49th Congressional District, which straddles the two counties. After polls closed on Nov. 8 the counties had over 1 million uncounted ballots.

Issa holds larger lead than state had reported »


Issa claims people who are not eligible to vote have cast provisional ballots. He said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spread lies about him, creating the tight race.

He said his lead could shrink to within 1 percent.

“Once the count is that close, Democrats will attempt to force the Registrars to allow thousands of illegal, unregistered voters to influence the election,” Issa said in the message.

Issa offered no proof that such voters, or how many of them, have cast ballots in this district. But his campaign noted that a percentage of provisional ballots are deemed ineligible in virtually all elections. San Diego officials said that 94 percent of voters casting provisional ballots in the June primary were determined to be eligible, meaning 6 percent were not.


Issa’s campaign said that what they’re doing is a regular part of the process of making sure that only eligible votes are counted.

“In a close race, it’s standard practice for both teams to have legal experts help review provisionals to be sure everything is square,” Spokesman Calvin Moore said.

Robert Dempsey, Applegate’s campaign manager, said they’re “cautiously optimistic” that provisional and late-returned mail-in ballots will push them ahead. In the days before polls opened they were able to expand their get-out-the-vote efforts beyond the scope of original plans to make a bigger push for Applegate.

“We made a real investment in doing a really heavy lift with individuals who we thought were likely supporters who had ballots left on hand,” Dempsey said.


“If you were a likely supporter and had a ballot in hand, we made sure you understood the process and put it in the mail,” he later added.

In races across the country, provisional and late-returned ballots tend to favor Democrats, and the Applegate campaign is doing everything it can to make sure that legal voters’ ballots are counted, Dempsey said.

“This is just indicative of Darrell Issa further trying to suppress the vote,” Dempsey said. “We’re going to do everything we can, legally, to protect the vote.”

Applegate’s campaign has a “small army” of observers as well as lawyers making sure ballots are properly evaluated, Dempsey said. Like Issa, Applegate’s campaign continues to solicit contributions to help with that effort.


As votes were counted, Applegate was in Washington, D.C., for orientation for House freshmen, which includes people who are in races that have not been definitively settled, Dempsey said.

There are approximately 60,000 votes left to be counted in the San Diego portion of the district, including 11,000 to 13,000 that are provisional, the county said. San Diego accounts for 75 percent of the district’s voters, while Orange County accounts for the remainder. It’s unclear how many ballots, provisional or otherwise, are left to count in the Orange County portion.

Provisional ballots are cast by people who might not initially appear eligible to vote for any number of reasons. Once these ballots are cast, the registrar will verify that the voter was in fact eligible to vote, and, if so, count their ballot. If they were ineligible, their vote is not included. Provisional ballots are the last to be counted.

Rick Hasen, a law professor at UC Irvine and the publisher of Election Law Blog, said state and federal law allows anyone who asks for a ballot at a polling place but is not on voter rolls to receive a provisional ballot. The state won’t count their votes unless it can later verify that the person was, in fact, eligible to vote.


“There is absolutely a right to get one of these ballots, but the state doesn’t have to count it. The whole point is to have this ballot set aside and have this person have the chance to vote,” Hasen said.

The provisional system is built on the presumption that election systems are not immune from mistakes and that a person should not be denied a vote because of someone else’s error.

“There are problems with our election system and there are errors,” Hasan said.

San Diego county spokesman Michael Workman said provisional ballots are verified by determining if the voter is registered to vote in the county, and that they did not already vote.


Registrar staff determines if a provisional ballot is acceptable but observers have the right to challenge a ballot under any of a series of provisions under state law. If challenged, an election official will make the final decision whether or not a ballot is counted.

“We have every faith that the Registrar of Voters will count the votes properly, but this is part of the process of ensuring a fair and honest election,” Moore said.

Issa, among the wealthiest members of Congress, said he hired a team of 20 observers and two law firms to oversee the process.

“I will not allow my constituents voices to be canceled by those who do not have the right to vote in our elections,” Issa said in the fundraising message.


Candidates have not had to file campaign finance reports since the election, but as of Oct. 20 Issa’s committee had $1,781,739 cash on hand, records show.

Moore declined to provide to give an update on the campaign’s current financial situation.

Full text of Issa’s message

Nov 16, 2016

I won, but now the liberals are trying to steal the election.


Over two hundred thousand ballots have been counted, and I am winning by 1.9%, but there are still as many as 100,000 ballots left to count, including many provisional ballots.

The truth is, there are enough ballots left to be counted that I could still lose. I am optimistic that’s not going to happen though.

Here’s the problem, most of the remaining votes are late absentee and so called “provisional ballots.”

Those late votes aren’t trending in my favor, because Nancy Pelosi and the DCCC spent more than 7 million dollars against me, telling blatant lies about me.


Because of those lies, (which I just filed a lawsuit against them for blatant slander and libel) many later voters were influenced and they could bring the count to within 1%.

Once the count is that close, Democrats will attempt to force the Registrars to allow thousands of illegal, unregistered voters to influence the election.

I’ve hired a team of 20 election Observers and 2 law firms to challenge every last one of these illegal voters. We cannot allow our election to be corrupted by outside influences and illegal votes.I will not allow my constituents voices to be cancelled by those who do not have the right to vote in our elections.

I am writing, and I am so sorry to ask because you’ve done so much already, but I need your help again.


I need you to make an urgent contribution to my re-count fund so that this election isn’t stolen from us.

I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t need your help today, but I do.

I urgently need your contribution of $35, $55, $85, $125 or even $525 today.

Whatever you’re able to do to help, thank you from the bottom of my heart and may God bless you.


Thank you.

Sincerely,

Congressman Darrell Issa

Twitter: @jptstewart


joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841