Soon after the 2020 election, I was asked to meet with the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters. I received a tour of the county election facility where all the election machines and data are stored.
Election Machines: Courtesy of China
I was surprised to see the hundreds of boxes of computers and tabulators with the stamp: “Dominion Voting” and “Made in China.” I asked the registrar: “Why in the world would we be using election machines made in China” and why are you using “Dominion Voting instead of one of its competitors?”
Her answer surprised me. She said the California Secretary of State told the counties that the state would only provide funding for upgrading electronic election systems if the county purchased the Dominion Voting system!
I cannot say that this necessarily proves anything in a court of law, but if true, it certainly raises grave concern in my mind over the integrity of our elections. At the time, President Trump had instituted significant trade sanctions against China, and I have no doubt that China and other countries would have loved to manipulate our elections.
California Bill Threatens Nonprofit Status
Writing this letter alone may put our nonprofit status at risk of investigation by the attorney generals of California and the United States. Senate Bill 834 is pending in the California Senate, which would give the State Attorney General the authority to direct or recommend that the Franchise Tax Board revoke the nonprofit status of any organization he believes “actively engaged in, or incited the active engagement in, any of the acts or conspiracies defined as criminal” such as “rebellion or insurrection.”
“Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” 18 U.S.C. 2383.
This vague criminal statute is liberally used to investigate individuals around the country who merely question the validity of the 2020 election.
At Advocates for Faith & Freedom, we believe that in recognition of today’s post Christian and anti-democratic climate, religious liberty depends on honest and fair elections. The nation’s political and corporate elite are dangerously close to enacting a cultural Marxist philosophy that would threaten our elections even further and criminalize a Christian worldview. President Biden’s executive order creating the Disinformation Governance Board is a perfect example of cultural Marxism invading government.
Election Lawsuit
For the sake of religious liberty, we agreed to represent the reputable and nonpartisan organization, Election Integrity Project of California (EIPCa), in the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals against numerous California county registrars. We also represent thirteen 2020 candidates and hundreds of EIPCa trained volunteer election observers.
Leading up to the 2020 elections, EIPCa notified former Secretary of State Alex Padilla several times of potential irregularities including thousands of registrants receiving duplicate ballots and hundreds of thousands of ineligible registrants receiving mail ballots. California officials never addressed EIPCa’s concerns. Below are some edited excerpts from our opening brief in the Ninth Circuit:
“In relation to the November 2020 election, EIPCa received hundreds of Incident Reports signed under penalty of perjury establishing that EIPCa observers were obstructed from observing the counting of votes. Some observers were relegated to remote video access which precluded their ability to determine whether procedures were being followed.
Despite the obstacles imposed by Appellee County Registrars on citizen observers, there are hundreds of sworn affidavits collected by EIPCa that report numerous irregularities. The affidavits reveal, among other things, that signature verifications for VBM (Vote By Mail) ballots were not adequately conducted.
For instance, in Contra Costa County, poll data tapes from voting machines showed inconsistencies between votes recorded by the machines and later tabulated. In this same county, a voter had his ballot envelope signed by another person with a different name and the county accepted the signature without conducting signature matching. In Los Angeles County, one observer witnessed a machine change a voter’s vote, and another observer witnessed two different women drop off multiple ballots without voter signatures. The ballots were still counted by election officials. In Sacramento County, an observer saw an “x” drawn for one candidate but the ballot being counted for the other candidate.
County registrars implemented different election rules and practices, thereby causing voters in one county to be treated differently from those in another, disadvantaging voters and diminishing the value of votes legally cast by and for the [Candidate Appellants] in certain counties in comparison to those legally cast in other counties.”
Our strategy is not to contest the validity of the 2020 election results in California, but to demand that our future elections are honestly administered with procedures that voters can trust to be fair and accurate.
The federal district court dismissed our lawsuit arguing our clients lacked standing to sue. If our clients lack standing, it is hard to imagine who would have standing to sue. But we are confident in our legal arguments and fully expect for the Ninth Circuit to reverse the lower court so that we can fully litigate in the district court for fair and honest elections.
As always, we covet your prayers as we battle to preserve your right to freely spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are inspired by your financial support because without your support, whether large or small, we could not stand for liberty in the most pressing cases of our day.
Due to the incredible case load confronting us, we are actively seeking to hire two additional attorneys. That means our budget will increase significantly. Thank you in advance for considering a special gift to support this great need.
With Gratitude,
Robert H. Tyler, Esq.