Murrieta, Temecula Lawmaker Gets Pushback From League Of Women Voters

MURRIETA, CA — The League of Women Voters of California has a beef with the congressman who represents Murrieta and Temecula.

It began last month when Congressman Darrell Issa (R-48) sued the Golden State in federal court to stop mail-in voting ballots from being counted after Election Day.

Issa claims the statewide practice provides “an unfair electoral advantage for opponents of Republican congressional incumbents.”

Issa’s lawsuit states he intends to run for re-election in 2026, but alleges he “faces a material risk that he may lose future elections due to these unlawful ballots.”

California law allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to seven days after Election Day as long as envelopes are postmarked on or before Election Day.

The suit, filed on Issa’s behalf by conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch, argues that counting vote-by-mail ballots that arrive up to seven days after Election Day violates federal law.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber is named as the defendant in the suit.

The League of Women Voters of California is seeking to intervene in Issa's lawsuit. In a motion filed last week, the nonprofit organization says the longtime Republican congressman's federal lawsuit "could wrongfully disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of California voters."

The organization states in its motion that its mission of boosting voter engagement and preventing voter disenfranchisement would be impeded if Issa is granted an injunction to reject mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

The group also alleges about 80% of Californians vote using a mail ballot each election.

"In his lawsuit, Congressman Issa openly admits that he wants to disenfranchise voters simply because they might not vote for him," said Julia Gomez, interim managing legal director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, one of several groups representing the League of Women Voters. "He is putting his own partisan interests above elections that accurately reflect the will of the people, and his arguments are meritless."

The court is scheduled to hear the League’s intervention motion on May 16, 2025.

Issa has shown little support for mail-in voting. In May 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the congressman sued Gov. Gavin Newsom over a state directive to send every registered California voter a mail-in ballot for the upcoming November election. Judge Morrison England Jr. dismissed the suit after plaintiffs, including the Republican National Committee, moved to drop the case.

Issa's 48th Congressional District stretches across Riverside and San Diego counties, and includes Murrieta, Temecula and nearby unincorporated areas. In San Diego County, the district extends across much of the county's eastern reaches.

—City News Service contributed to this report.