加州高级官员向该州共和党发出了停止令，此前该党承认支持该州当地政党办公室、候选人总部和教堂未经授权的投票箱。
“误导选民是错误的，不管是谁做的，”加州国务卿亚历克斯·帕迪拉在周一晚上的新闻发布会上宣布。“政党和竞选团队可以参与投票，但不能违反州法律。”
帕迪拉办公室和加州司法部长发布命令之前，有一系列报道称，该州出现了非官方的投票箱，这些投票箱被州共和党官员错误地宣传为合法的。
最先报道的是橘子郡登记处，上周，加州共和党地区负责人发布了一条现已删除的推文，要求人们向他发送信息，让他在“方便的地点”投下选票，并在一个标有“官方投票箱”的未经授权的投票箱旁边贴上自己的照片弗雷斯诺共和党在其网站上单独设立了一个页面，在枪支商店、加油站、健康俱乐部和他们的政党总部之外宣传“选票收集箱”。
哥伦比亚广播公司洛杉矶分公司另据报道，自由之路浸信会的脸书页面上也有类似的非正式投票箱广告，除了布道之外，还经常发布批评民主党的信息。此后，在本地选举一名官员告诉哥伦比亚广播公司，这不是一个授权的盒子。
在备忘录中帕迪拉对州选举官员说，使用这种未经授权的投递箱违反了州法律。
帕迪拉说:“只有县选举官员有权指定县内投票箱的位置、运行时间和数量，并有责任确保遵守所有适用的法规和条例，这些法规和条例保证了通过邮件存放的选票的安全性和保管链。”“此外，使用未经授权的非官方邮件投票箱不符合州法律规定的选票收集活动。”
在备忘录的稍后部分，Padilla指出，任何被发现违反州选举法中关于投票箱的规定的人都可能面临重罪定罪，最高可判处2至4年监禁。
帕迪拉说，周一的停止令要求共和党立即移除任何其他未经授权的投票箱，并敦促任何可能在这些地方投下选票的加州人在tracking@vote.ca.gov跟踪他们的投票，以接收关于他们投票状态的通知。
该州共和党发言人赫克托·巴拉哈斯(Hector Barajas)在一份声明中为非官方投票箱辩护，称这种反应“被夸大了”，并指出该州民主党人通过的2016年法律允许选民将选票交给任何指定的投票人。
巴拉加斯说:“民主党人现在很沮丧，因为组织、个人和团体正在为他们的朋友、家人和赞助人提供一个机会，让他们把选票交给他们认识和信任的人。”“当州法律允许组织、志愿者或竞选工作人员收集完成的选票并将它们放在投票站或选举办公室时，民主党的愤怒被夸大了。”
然而，帕迪拉在备忘录中解释说，这个借口不符合法律条文。
帕迪拉说:“当选民在未经授权的非官方邮件投票箱中投下选票时，没有指定的‘人’会按照州法律的要求签名。”“由选民指定的人，在法律规定的期限内，通过邮件将选票信封返还给县选举官员，必须向选民提供他们的姓名、签名和关系。”
当被问及停止和终止信时，巴拉哈斯没有立即回应美国广播公司新闻的后续置评请求。
California officials send cease-and-desist order to state GOP over unauthorized ballot drop boxes
Top officials in California have sent a cease-and-desist order to the state Republican party after it admitted to propping up unauthorized ballot drop boxes in local party offices, candidate headquarters and churches around the state.
"Misleading voters is wrong, regardless of who's doing it," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced in a Monday evening news conference. "Political parties and campaigns can engage and get up to vote efforts, but they cannot violate state law."
The order from Padilla's office and the California attorney general followed a series of reports about unofficial ballot drop boxes surfacing around the state that were falsely promoted by state Republican officials as legitimate.
As first reported bythe Orange County Register,a now-removed tweet by a regional field director for the California Republican Party last week had asked people to message him for "convenient locations" to drop their ballots, with a picture of himself posing next to an unauthorized drop-box labeled "Official Ballot Drop Box." The Fresno GOP separately put up a page on its website advertising "ballot collection boxes" outside of gun stores, gas stations, health clubs and their party HQ.
CBS LAseparately reported on a similar unofficial ballot drop box advertised on the Facebook page of Freedom's Way Baptist Church in Castaic, which in addition to its sermons frequently posts messages critical of Democrats. The drop box has since been removed after a localelectionofficial told CBS LA it was not an authorized box.
In a memoto state elections officials, Padilla said the use of such unauthorized drop boxes run afoul of state law.
"County elections officials alone have the authority to designate the location, hours of operation, and number of drop boxes in the county, and have the responsibility for ensuring compliance with all applicable statutes and regulations that guarantee the security and chain of custody of vote-by-mail ballots deposited," Padilla said. "Moreover, the use of unauthorized, non-official vote-by-mail ballot drop boxes does not comply with state law governing ballot collection activities."
Later in the memo, Padilla notes that any person found to be in violation of the section of state election code governing ballot drop boxes could face a felony conviction with a potential sentence of as much as two to four years in prison.
Padilla said Monday's cease-and-desist order demands the Republican party remove any other unauthorized drop boxes immediately and urged any Californians who may have dropped their ballots at such locations to track their votes at tracking@vote.ca.gov to receive notifications on their ballot status.
Hector Barajas, a spokesperson with the state GOP, defended the unofficial drop boxes in a statement describing the reaction as "overblown" and pointing to a 2016 law passed by Democrats in the state that permitted voters to hand ballots over to any designated individual who would deliver the ballot.
"Democrats are now upset because organizations, individuals and groups are offering an opportunity for their friends, family, and patrons to drop off their ballot with someone they know and trust," Barajas said. "The Democrat anger is overblown when state law allows organizations, volunteers or campaign workers to collect completed ballots and drop them off at polling places or election offices."
Padilla, however, explained in his memo that this excuse doesn't match with the letter of the law.
"When a voter drops off a ballot in an unauthorized, non-official vote-by-mail drop box, no designated 'person' would be signing, as required by state law," Padilla said. "A person designated by the voter to return their vote-by-mail ballot envelope to the county elections official within the required time period by law, must provide their name, signature and relationship to the voter."
Barajas didn't immediately respond to a follow-up request for comment from ABC News when asked about the cease and desist letter.
来源：https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/california-officials-send-cease-desist-order-state-gop/story?id=73585676&cid=clicksource_4380645_9_film_strip_icymi_hed
