Dear Friends and Supporters,
We may be down, but we are by no means out. This race truly is too close to call until every last vote has been counted.
That, however, is not stopping Ken Calvert from trying to end the counting before we can close the gap. Calvert's lawyer is already challenging signatures and trying to get vote-by-mail ballots disqualified.
Today (two days after the election), Ken Calvert told the OC Register that he's sure he won re-election. We beg to differ. With 100,000+ votes still left to be counted and a vote difference of only about 4000 votes, it looks like he knows he's in trouble, and is trying to declare a victory before all the votes have been counted. We can NOT let this happen.
We have assembled a legal team to make sure the process is fair and that all valid ballots get counted. We have the best lawyer money can buy, but good lawyers are expensive.
Can you donate to the Hedrick Ballot Fund right now to help pay our legal costs and make sure every vote is counted?
Do not let Calvert steal this election. We don't need another Florida 2000 popping up here in Riverside. We are making waves and even the national press has taken notice that the race for the 44th isn't over yet.
Here's an excerpt from today's Huffington Post:
Two days after the Nov. 4 elections, a congressional race in conservative Orange County, California that was dismissed by most observers as a lock for the GOP remains unresolved. Democratic challenger Bill Hedrick is down by about 4,600 votes against 16-year incumbent Republican Ken Calvert in the 44th congressional district, but nearly 100,000 provisional and vote-by-mail absentee ballots have yet to be counted.
GOP lawyers are descending on registrars' offices in Orange and Riverside, the district's two counties, trying to influence the vote counting which began today.
Of the 200,000 Riverside County ballots to be counted, about half are from the 44th district. According to Rebecca Martine, Riverside County's chief deputy registrar, 47,000 provisional ballots represent 38,000 on paper and 9,000 electronic provisional ballots.
Calvert's team has apparently been having private conversations with the registrar's office in Riverside County, which was the last county in California to report its election results. There were numerous reports from Democratic Party officials, voters and even a poll worker in Riverside County that voters were "forced to use provisional ballots" or "denied ballots entirely" on Tuesday.
Our story of 'too close to call' has also popped up on DailyKos, the National Journal, Calitics, Swing State Project, Politicker, the OC Register, and the Press Enterprise.
The country is watching. This race for the 44th is not over. We have the chance to beat Ken Calvert, as long as we can afford the legal tools to insure every vote is counted.
Please donate to our legal fund today.
Sincerely,
Bill Hedrick