A California Democrat was arrested as part of an alleged election fraud scheme, lending credibility to conservative fears of the nation’s electoral system being compromised.
Shakir Khan, a member of the Lodi City Council was arrested for what law enforcement describes as a scheme to defraud an election through mail-in ballots.
The news comes as Democrats have been accused of several voter fraud or election fraud attempts by Republicans.
“I did not resign my city council seat,” Shakir Khan stated. “I will continue to serve.”
A city council member in Lodi, #California, was arrested on #VoterFraud-related charges amid speculation that he resigned from office, according to officials. https://t.co/Dyw1bLv3Sq
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) February 21, 2023
According to law enforcement, the Democrat had 41 mail-in ballots in his home and falsified voter registration records. According to prosecutors, Khan registered 23 people at his personal home address and used his phone number for 47 voter registrations.
The city councilman contends that he did not resign from his current position following his arrest.
“I will continue to serve the people that I love in my district and my community,” he said.
The most prominent accusations have come from former President Donald Trump, who asserts that he won the 2020 election.
More recently, 2022 Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) asserted that she won the November contest over current-Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ).
Mail-in balloting became far more prevalent nationwide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Republicans fear that the increase in mail-in ballots without proper controls could lead to fraud.
While Democrats currently argue the opposite, the New York Times, a traditional ally of left-wing causes, asserted in 2012 that such balloting is more ripe for fraud and abuse.
The newspaper wrote that “votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show. Election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting.”
A 2% of error would be enough to shift several of the states in the 2020 election, as well as the result of the 2022 Arizona governor’s race.
