A fake voting center was apparently set up in California — and even handed out 'I Voted' stickers


Officials in Orange County, California, are investigating reports that on Tuesday, a fake voting center was set up in the city of Westminster.
The site allegedly accepted ballots and even distributed "I Voted" stickers, the Los Angeles Times reports. An organizer for the OCForBlackLives group said in a video on Twitter that while patrolling neighborhoods for voter fraud, an activist saw a handmade "Vote Here" sign at a building and watched as people walked in with their ballots and left with "I Voted" stickers. The Orange County Registrar of Voters confirmed that it was not an official polling site, and the agency and the district attorney's office are investigating.
The Times reports that the purported polling center was at an address listed as the headquarters of Apogee International. Apogee is a skincare company owned by the vice mayor of Westminster, Dr. Kimberly Ho, who is running for re-election. The Times called Apogee, and the man who answered the phone said the address was Ho's campaign headquarters. He would not comment on the fake voting site reports, only saying, "You need to talk with the lawyer."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The lawyer, Van Tran, told the Times people did go there to drop off their ballots, but then claimed the campaign was only helping "advise" them on how to vote. A video was shot at the location that showed boxes, and Tran claimed they held empty ballot envelopes and not ballots. "It's a false controversy that the opponents are creating," Tran told the Times. "There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that any illegality is happening."
Activists who stood outside of the office building told the Times that wasn't the case, with Justin Frazier of the Clarity O.C. organizations saying, "I don't even know who [Ho's] opponent is."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Why Turkey's Kurdish insurgents are laying down their arms
Under the Radar The PKK said its aims can now be 'resolved through democratic politics'
-
Book reviews: 'Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves' and 'Notes to John'
Feature The aughts' toxic pop culture and Joan Didion's most private pages
-
The FDA plans to embrace AI agencywide
In the Spotlight Rumors are swirling about a bespoke AI chatbot being developed for the FDA by OpenAI
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members