Los Angeles Times: Republicans Walters and Kim Adopt Trump Tactic of Charging Vote Fraud with No Evidence of Wrongdoing

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Walters and Kim Adopt Trump Tactic of Charging Vote Fraud with No Evidence of Wrongdoing

“The tone has been set at the top,” said Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy at Common Cause. “I think it’s reckless. It is irresponsible.”

Two Orange County Republicans facing the prospect of defeat in the Nov. 6 congressional election as final ballots are counted have adopted President Trump’s tactic of making baseless allegations of vote fraud.

Neither GOP Rep. Mimi Walters nor Republican candidate Young Kim has produced evidence to back up their charges that Democrats are trying to steal the election. County registrars of voters supervising the ballot counts said they knew of no one doing anything that would compromise the election’s integrity.

Both Republicans leveled the accusations after they steadily lost ground in the continuing tabulation of tens of thousands of ballots. Walters finished ahead on election night, but has fallen 3,797 votes behind Democrat Katie Porter. Kim is clinging to a 122-vote lead over Democrat Gil Cisneros.

Walters and Kim have joined a growing number of Republicans in Florida and elsewhere who, like Trump, challenge the legitimacy of vote counts when Democrats gain in late tallies. Nonpartisan election watchdogs are appalled.

“The tone has been set at the top,” said Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy at Common Cause. “I think it’s reckless. It is irresponsible.”