The Republican Party of Orange County has strongly rejected baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2024 election, dismissing allegations that arose after Democrats swept a hotly contested congressional seat.
In a district that is home to some of the most competitive House races in the nation, a local party leader said he fears the false claims could weaken Republican participation in the upcoming election if not dealt with forcefully.
Orange County Republican Party Executive Director Randall Avila cited the 45th Congressional District in Los Angeles and Orange counties, where Democratic challenger Derek Tran unseated Republican Rep. Michelle Steel by 653 votes in November.
“If 1,000 people see [the claims of voter fraud] and then you think, ‘Well, I don’t have to vote, it doesn’t matter,’ it’s very damaging to our cause, especially in races as close as that,” Avila said Friday.
The Orange County GOP fired back at claims of voter fraud in a detailed email that went out last week to a mailing list of about 60,000 people, Avila said. The local group also refuted the claims in the form of questions and answers on social media.
“We support commonsense reforms like Voter ID and ending mail-in voting worldwide to ensure free and fair elections, but false claims of voter fraud undermine our efforts and ultimately reduce the Republican vote when our voters believe their vote does not count,” the statement said. -email, and a point-by-point explanation that counters several of the issues raised.
Voter fraud is rare in the United States. But false claims of widespread corruption have permeated American discourse — particularly in right-wing media outlets — since President-elect Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and lied about winning. Attacks on electoral integrity over the years have had devastating consequences, with polls showing sharp divisions over whether Americans trust the electoral process.
Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College who served on the state’s redistricting commission, praised the Orange County GOP’s decision to address the claims.
“False claims of voter fraud have abounded over the past few years, many of which were made by President-elect Donald Trump. So to see the Republican Party come out in the open to solve those myths is a good breath,” said Sadhwani.
False claims from Orange County were posted on a published site recently and quickly spread. They were raised by a number of prominent right-wing figures, including Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally who was convicted of lying to Congress during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
The blog post is said to have revealed “significant vote disparities” that could change the outcome of House races. The alleged differences center on several factors. One was the number of ballots cast by the county (including all printed ballots, including mail ballots sent to the homes of voters who later voted in person) greater than the number of registered voters. One concerns the difference between the number of registered voters in the last period before the election and the last number of registered voters on election day. Local GOP leaders said the difference was caused by about 40,000 Orange County residents who registered to vote on or near Election Day, as allowed by California law.
Avila estimated that at least 20 people came into the group’s Tustin headquarters to raise the issue after seeing the false information online, along with another 60 to 70 people making phone calls. After the flood of concerns, the party director said his office contacted the local voter registrar to gather information and straighten out the facts before giving a detailed explanation.
“If there was voter fraud going on here with the House on the line, there would be lawyers here. We would be in court,” said Jon Fleischman, an Orange County-based Republican campaign strategist and former executive director of the California GOP.
Fleischman insisted that was not “true” on the ground, regardless of his criticism of some of California’s election laws, such as that every Californian receives a ballot by mail and those votes are accepted for about a week. after the election, as long as they are marked on election day.
“Elections should end on election day,” Fleischman said, noting that laws that create long wait times for vote counts add to public confusion and mistrust.
Avila also called for changes to California’s voter accessibility laws, which allow voters more options than in other states, and to help establish California’s slow voter count. But like Fleischman, he drew a sharp line between those subsidies and actual fraud.
“There are no real legal challenges here,” said Mindy Romero, a political sociologist who directs USC’s Center for Inclusive Democracy. “So not talking about or delaying allegations of fraud is damaging to the integrity of the election, period.”
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