State GOP sues governor to stop ballot harvesting for two upcoming elections

The California Republican Party sued Gov. Gavin Newsom, seeking to stop ballot harvesting ahead of two special elections.

The complaint claims that allowing the practice, in which a third party collects and then submits sealed absentee ballots, violates Newsom's own emergency orders related to the coronavirus pandemic. California Republican Party v. Newsom, c(Sac. Super. Ct., filed April 29, 2020).

"Ballot harvesting stands in direct conflict with the social distancing guidelines he claims to support," California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement Thursday. "The governor's stay-at-home order clearly prohibits ballot harvesting."

"This case concerns the urgent question of whether a campaign ballot gatherer (also referred to as a "ballot harvester") is considered a nonessential worker subject to Governor Newsom's March 19, 2020, executive order that nonessential workers are to stay home," wrote Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Dhillon Law Group in San Francisco. Her complaint featured several exhibits, many of them Newsom's own orders.

The complaint goes on to argue that the executive order lacks the legal assurance needed to safely instruct campaign workers on what activities are permissible during the crisis. Newsom's order "uses terminology that is inconsistent with the Education Code," the complaint states. The state Republican Party has sought guidance from the governor's office and the secretary of state because "the vagueness, uncertainty and contradictory nature of defendant's executive order and public statements chills the [party's] ability to conduct normal campaign functions."

The plaintiffs are seeking to have ballot harvesting declared illegal for the two special elections scheduled for May 12, one for a congressional seat and the other for the state Senate, barring additional guidance from Newsom clarifying the state's policies. The top two finishers in each of these races will advance to the general election in November.

Dhillon has filed several challenges to emergency orders by Newsom and local governments. The firm's website lists eight actions relating to the COVID-19 crisis; six feature Newsom as the named defendant. These include a challenge to orders barring in-person church services and to Newsom's decision to give state unemployment aid to people residing in the country illegally.

Newsom's office did not reply to an email seeking comment.