OPINION:
Spencer Pratt seemed to be a viable contender in the race for the next mayor of Los Angeles, with Mayor Karen Bass fighting for her job and council member Nithya Raman in third place — but then something happened.
Mail-in ballots started rolling in, and all of a sudden, Mr. Pratt was out.
It was not the first time mail-in ballots have made a difference in the outcomes of races and ballot measures in California that are essentially “liberal” versus “conservative.” More often than not, mail-in ballots have shifted races from what started out looking like a conservative outcome to a liberal one.
Ballot Measure ER — increasing the sales tax in Los Angeles County from 9.75% to 10.25% for five years to give funding to local health departments and services — showed a similar outcome. What sort of person would vote to increase taxes?
So what is up with these mail-in ballots in the L.A. mayoral race?
Conspiracy theorists say mail-in ballots are liberal stopgaps designed to swing the vote in favor of a liberal outcome if it appears that a conservative outcome is likely to prevail. Where does this sudden surge come from? The theorists claim they are being “harvested” at the street level — from the homeless, mostly, and Los Angeles County has tens of thousands of them.
That is more than enough to shift the outcomes of races such as these.
I think the answer is as simple as laziness. Many liberals just do not bother going to the polls (it is inconvenient), or they wait until the last minute to mail in their ballots if they do bother to vote.
One can see how such outcomes fuel accusations of voter fraud.
ARTHUR SAGINIAN
Santa Clarita, California
Please read our comment policy before commenting.