SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The California Republican Party says it will not comply with an order from the state’s chief elections official to remove unofficial ballot boxes from counties with competitive U.S. House races.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, say the boxes are illegal.
They have ordered the party to remove them by Thursday.
California Republican Party General Counsel Tom Hiltachk said Wednesday the party will not remove the boxes.
He says they comply with California’s ballot harvesting law that allows people to collect ballots from voters and return them to county election offices to be counted.