Christine Pelosi, a Democratic political strategist and daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, posted a cringeworthy video bragging about “curing ballots in California.”
The Golden State has come under scrutiny in this election for its woefully protracted vote count.
RedState Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Van Laar has a very helpful explanation of the vote counting process in the Golden State, including a discussion of “cured” ballots.
She writes:
The California Election Law Requires election officials to notify voters if the ballot is invalid due to a missing signature or signature mismatch, and to give them an opportunity to “cure” that deficiency within a specified period of time so that the ballot can then be counted. It is not an opportunity to change a vote, and election officials are not permitted to open the ballot.
Still, Pelosi’s video caused a stir, especially because it was so embarrassing. Pelosi, for reasons only she knows, declares her love of couriering ballots to the tune of Willie Nelson’s hit song “On the Road Again.”
“My life, my love is exchanging ballots with my friends… I can’t wait to go on tour again,” she sings.
🎶On the road again…. My life, my love, is couriering ballots with my friends…
Join us #CA13! 🇺🇸 DONATE! https://t.co/6mo1v5vFAn pic.twitter.com/vc4Qqu1q0l— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) November 20, 2024
Second, she got some attention due to her trip to California’s 13th Congressional District, where the House race is between Republican incumbent John Duarte democrat Adam Gray has yet to be named.
Pelosi detailed the reasons for working on California’s election cure in an X-thread this morning.
“California has long had mail-in ballots and elections are decided after the signature of each ballot envelope is matched. Bipartisan observers will be present for the count,” she wrote. “God bless our poll workers for their commitment to accuracy and transparency.”
Good morning California! And hello to all the Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are processing the ballots – let’s all do our part to make sure that happens #EveryVoteCounts! 🇺🇸🗳️
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) November 20, 2024
“There are always CURE ballots – where a voter signs an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they are the person whose ballot envelope had a clerical error or a ‘mismatched’ signature,” Pelosi added. “As I type, REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS are curing the ballots in California.”
That’s true. Campaigns in California often mobilize supporters to facilitate get out the vote in close contests, and by 2024 Republicans were actually better at it; Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) won his close 2020 contest by just 336 votes, thanks to his campaign’s ballot-healing efforts. Sources tell RedState that Garcia’s campaign also acted immediately to heal the ballot this year, expecting a close race in the D+20 district, but none of the party’s preferred voters told the party that the Whitesides’ campaign had already chosen them have achieved.
This year’s race in California’s 13th Congressional District was initially close. Duarte led Gray by nearly 2,000 votes on Monday. According to Decision Desk HQ, the lead had fallen to 348 on Tuesday. Over 95% of the votes have been counted. Duarte won in 2022 with 564 votes.
(NOTE: To view Duarte’s race, select the 13th Congressional District from the drop-down menu.)
Jacob Rubashkin, deputy editor of Inside Elections, wrote on
“That would be the closest House result of the year!” he added.
The Daily Mail writes: “Contributions to the [Christine Pelosi’s] On Instagram you can see how she has been volunteering in several districts over the past two weeks to reduce Republican seats in the House of Representatives.
CA-13 is one of four House races that have yet to be called. The GOP retained the majority in the chamber, gaining 218 seats to the Democrats’ 213 seats.
As Republicans well know, Democrats are always in lockstep with their votes. Expanding the majority as much as possible is critical to countering this kind of unity, especially since Republican candidates in the House of Representatives are occasionally unhappy on hard votes.
