Californias doggone voting disaster reveals a loophole lawmakers cant ignore

California doesn’t check citizenship when people register to vote.That’s how a dog was able to participate in two recent elections.Costa Mesa resident Laura Lee Yourex registered her dog, Maya Jean, to vote in 2020.

She cast two mail-in ballots in different elections in the dog’s name, according to the Orange County district attorney.Maya Jean’s ballot counted in the 2021 recall election against Gov.Gavin Newsom.

(Newsom survived.)Maya Jean tried to vote again in the 2022 primary (that is, Yourex mailed a ballot on the dog’s behalf), but the dog’s ballot was rejected because there were federal races on the ballot that triggered verification requirements for certain first-time voters.If the state of California had been the only authority involved, Maya Jean’s ballot would have been counted without question.The only reason Yourex was caught and prosecuted was that she reported herself (and her dog).In 2024, three years after Maya Jean’s ballot was counted, Yourex posted a photo of Maya Jean’s dog tag next to another mail-in ballot and wrote that her dog was still getting ballots despite having died.Apparently, it isn’t just dead people getting ballots; it’s dead dogs too. California’s election system didn’t identify the fraud before the first ballot counted, and the county registrar continued generating ballots years later.The Orange County DA initially charged Yourex with five felonies, but she pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor after prosecutors dismissed four felony charges and reduced the fifth.Her punishment was a $1,500 payment to run four billboards featuring her dog, Maya Jean, and declaring that voter fraud is a crime.Raising public awareness is one thing.

But enforcement is another.And California just isn’t interested.This week, a federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from enforcing laws preventing noncitizens from voting.US District Judge David Carter, a Bill Clinton appointee, said that the White House...