California Republicans are allegedly setting up fake 'official' drop-off boxes to harvest ballots

(Yahoo News)

For "harvest" read "steal".

Unofficial ballot drop boxes popping up throughout the state worry elections officials

(Orange County Register)

The California Secretary of State has received reports in recent days about possible unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange counties...California Republicans have set them up to collect ballots...The metal boxes, which purport to be "official," have been reported at local political party offices, churches, and headquarters for GOP candidates. Reports place such boxes at local political party offices, candidate headquarters and churches.

...

On its website, the Fresno County Republican Party also shared a list of “secure” ballot collection locations. None are official county drop box sites, with the local GOP instead listing its own headquarters, multiple gun shops and other local businesses.

[Pause: I'm trying to figure out the GOP thinking here. Fool voters and catch-and-kill the ballots, overwhelmingly Democratic? That was my first thought. But that can't be. The official GOP is doing this to benefit GOP candidates. How? Why would this be a concerted effort of the GOP in, of all places, California? There are like three Republicans left in California. A dry run for the GOP in more competitive states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio? How did they think they were going to get these ballots collected from gun shops lol and their headquarters officially counted? Trying to think like a Republican is hard.]

The California Republican Party [has] been defending the practice in replies on Twitter, alleging the process was made legal under a 2016 law that allows California voters to designate a person to return their ballot for them. The GOP calls the practice “ballot harvesting” and blames it for losses to the Democrats in OC and other places in 2018.

But state officials clarified that using an unauthorized vote-by-mail drop box would not meet the requirements of the 2016 law. No designated “person” would be signing for the ballots as required by state law.

[Oh my God. To think like a Republican you must first remove reason, reading literacy, and sense. A frontal lobotomy is indicated.]