(The Center Square) – The Karen Bass for Mayor campaign is disputing claims from Republican challenger Spencer Pratt that she is guilty of illegal electioneering.
Pratt made the accusation on X and pointed to a series of related videos that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat running for reelection, posted on the same social media platform. One video shows the mayor speaking to a small group of supporters holding Bass campaign signs in Los Angeles High Memorial Park, and Pratt said Bass and her supporters are illegally near a ballot box.
The ballot box is not seen in the video with campaign signs, but Bass is seen depositing her ballot in a box in the same park as supporters watch. The campaign signs are not visible in the ballot box video.
The question is the distance between the ballot box and the campaign signs.
“Karen Bass just violated election law here,” said Pratt on X. “She is so accustomed to breaking the law with no accountability, she even filmed herself doing it.”
Pratt went on to say that those days are over. He added that his campaign filed a formal complaint with the California Secretary of State's Office for “illegally gaming the election” for mayor.
“Electioneering within 100 feet of a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW,” said Pratt on X. “Soliciting votes at a ballot box is AGAINST THE LAW. These clear violations show a reckless disregard for the rule of law and our democratic process.”
In her post on X, Bass told people that “you can drop off your ballot at voting centers and drop boxes throughout the city” of Los Angeles.
Near the bottom of the mayor’s post, social media readers posted comments that California law prohibits "electioneering" within 100 feet of a polling place or "an outdoor site, including a curbside voting area, at which a voter may cast or drop off a ballot."
Election Code 319.5 was then cited as the source.
The Pratt campaign said it does not think Bass cares.
“She genuinely doesn’t care about protecting our democracy, nor does she care about the rule of law,” a Pratt campaign spokesperson told The Center Square on Wednesday, answering questions by email. “That’s why she ignores terrified mothers in LA who are being victimized by rampant criminality, and that’s why she’s now cheating in the election.”
The spokesperson, who declined to be identified by a name, added that Bass is “terrified” of his campaign, and she’s getting more desperate.
“We need to get this lawbreaker out of office,” the Pratt campaign spokesperson told The Center Square.
Bass campaign spokesperson Alex Stack told The Center Square on Wednesday that the Pratt campaign's complaint is totally false.
Stack noted there were two locations filmed for the Bass campaign's videos, one more than 200 feet away from the ballot box (with signs) and one next to the ballot box (without signs).
“Spencer is just mad that his supporters are AI cartoons, and we have real Angelenos,” Stack told The Center Square, referring to Pratt's AI-generated video depicting Bass as the Joker and Pratt as Batman saving Los Angeles. “We follow the rules.”
According to Stack, the rally with signs was in the middle of Los Angeles High Memorial Park. The ballot drop box is in the corner of the park but at a legal distance from the rally with campaign signs.
Stack referred to still images that the campaign took from the videos, mentioned earlier in this story, and provided The Center Square with a map of the park.
The Center Square on Wednesday reached out to the California Secretary of State's Office and asked about Pratt's complaint.
"The Secretary of State’s office takes violations of the California Elections Code, including electioneering, very seriously and carefully reviews all complaints reported to our office," the office's press team told The Center Square, answering a question by email. "To report suspected election fraud or violations of the Elections Code, members of the public and election officials may submit a complaint using the Secretary of State’s official complaint form at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/publications-and-resources/voter-complaint."
The nonpartisan primary for mayor of Los Angeles is scheduled for June 2. If a candidate gets 51% or more of the vote, that person is elected mayor. If no candidate gets at least 51% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election. Fourteen candidates are on a list from Office of the City Clerk of Los Angeles.
Results from a recent Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics poll shows Bass leading the race with 30% support, followed by Pratt, a former reality TV star, at 22%, and Nithya Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member and Democrat, at 19%. Other candidates are in the single digits for the polling results.
The Center Square reached out to Raman for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
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