CALIFORNIA, USA — Former U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom for ordering absentee ballots be sent to all voters, himself voted absentee 16 times in the past 20 years, according to official voting records.
Issa, a Republican who left his seat in 2019 after 18 years serving the 49th Congressional District that straddles northern San Diego County and the San Clemente area of Orange County, is currently running in the adjacent inland 50th District that reaches into southern Riverside County.
Issa last week joined a lawsuit in Sacramento federal court seeking to reverse a May 8 executive order by Newsom that requires all 58 California counties send absentee ballots to all registered voters for the 2020 presidential election.
But Issa and his aides see no contradiction in his voting history.
Issa told Times of San Diego in a phone interview Friday that the issue is a narrow one of Newsom's authority -- about ensuring that elected officials hew to the law.
"This lawsuit is not about the 15 million [Californians] who choose to vote by absentee," Issa said. "And it's not about the 5 million who are eligible."
Issa, 66, said there's a right and wrong way way to foster vote-by- mail, and the right way is "not only less expensive, and less fraught with the possibility of fraud, but it's also consistent and there's plenty of time to do it."
On Tuesday, Issa sent a letter to state Secretary of State Alex Padilla and the registrars of voters in San Diego and Riverside counties. In the letter, Issa says: "I strongly support the right of California's voters to vote-by-mail" and urged the officials to mail every non-permanent absentee voter an application for a mail ballot for the November 2020 election.
"During the current pandemic, many more voters may choose not to congregate at polling places and would prefer a mail-ballot," Issa wrote. "The Governor's Executive Order does not negate the need for applications for absentee ballots. As you are aware, the Governor does not possess the authority under the U.S. Constitution, or the laws of the State of California, to mandate the issuance of mail ballots to all voters as he has done."
Issa spokesman Greg Blair said: "Millions of voters will receive ballots, with no verification as to whether they are active voters, reside at the address where they've received their ballot, or if they're even still alive."
The governor's order lacks legal foundation and is a recipe for widespread fraud, Blair added.
"The governor is free to propose a change in the law; he can't make it reality with the stroke of a pen," he said.
But Padilla has been quoted as saying the Judicial Watch lawsuit was "un-American, immoral and a threat to the health of every Californian."
"Exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to justify voter suppression is despicable, even for Judicial Watch's pathetically low standards," Padilla said in a statement to Politico and Courthouse News.
The absentee voting records of high-profile Republicans have come under scrutiny in recent days as President Trump (an absentee voter himself) declared war on expanded mail balloting even though it's a common practice in many states.
Issa is running to replace resigned Rep. Duncan D. Hunter in the East and North County 50th District. His voting history, a public record, was made available upon request by Michael Vu, the county registrar of voters.
The history shows that Issa voted in 24 of 26 elections (16 by absentee) that he was eligible for since March 2000. The record said he missed two elections -- a Vista special election in 2007 and the statewide recall election in 2003.
"That's not true," Issa said of the 2003 balloting. "I voted in that election. ... I'm sure it's a mistake. ... And quite frankly I'm pretty sure there are pictures of me casting a vote in the election."
In fact, Issa helped bankroll Rescue California and its recall petition drive that led to the ouster of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and ushered in Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
John Franklin, Issa's general consultant and former political director, said: "Nobody has a paper record from 17 years ago, let alone the registrar. ... I was there, and I'm sure [Issa] voted. You must have been under a rock if you don't know his involvement in that recall."
Franklin recited his own fight to correct an error in the voting record. He said he fought Vu to make the record reflect he voted in the 2016 presidential election. (The record said he hadn't.)
"If you ask him, he'll tell you: 'Yes, Franklin called me three or four times over the course of a year until I finally relented and changed the fact that he had voted in 2016' because I did vote by absentee."
It wasn't the first time Issa's voting record contained an error, said the November opponent of Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.
"When I ran for the Senate in 1998, they did a similar record check to see whether I voted because at that time there was some people running for office who had not voted -- Michael Huffington and a couple of others," Issa said.
He said the voting record indicated he hadn't cast a ballot in the 1992 presidential primary. He insists he did.
"Do I miss one vote every 10 years?" he asked. "No. Did the ballot get `lost or mutilated?' Yeah. That's what happened."
Vu, the registrar of voters, said Friday he would need to look into the 2003 issue further, "but the [record] I sent conveys that he didn't request a mail ballot while the column under `Poll Voter' for that particular election is blank. I need to look into why."
Issa aide Franklin said: "It's exactly these sloppy record-keeping tactics and problems that's part of our concern. You think the process is free from errors? It's not."
Issa also argues that under Newsom's program, the state would be mailing ballots to college dorms that will be closed.
"We will be mailing to plenty of other places because there's been nothing done to make the voter rolls more accurate," he said. "Only a sending of 5 million unsolicited ballots, in violation of both the [state] Constitution and state law."
In his letter to Padilla, Vu and Riverside County vote czar Rebecca Spencer, Issa said: "Pending litigation may invalidate [Newsom's] order, and accordingly, I urge you to plan to mail absentee ballot applications to all current registered voters. By doing so, you will have legitimate authority under California law to mail ballots to all who have applied as well as all permanent absentee voters."
He thanked the officials for "considering this request to protect the ability of all who want to vote, to do so safely, by mail if they choose."
Asked about the letter from Issa, Vu said: "As this matter is being litigated, we will abide by the final court ruling."
Former U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who's suing over absentee voting, used it himself 16 times
Issa and his aides see no contradiction in his voting history.
