BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills City Council unanimously voted to establish the Anti-Voter Fraud Initiative on Tuesday, January 25. Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch said the initiative is in response to the “overwhelming evidence of voter fraud” discovered at the local level.

Beverly Hills will review what it can do to help prevent voter fraud. An educational outreach program and a collaborative community ‘watch-dog’ approach will be further developed.

“Voter fraud is real. It’s alive. It’s happening. And we have to stop it. Whether or not it happens at the federal level, we know it happens at the local level. We have seen it ourselves and our own investigations have proven it happens,” Mirisch wrote in a blog post on Huntington Post.

Mirisch added that the initiative will attempt to use every tool available to maintain the integrity of local elections. The initiative also wants to inform its voters to report on suspected instances whenever they see suspicious activity.

Citing significant concern, Mayor John Mirisch stated, “we will do whatever it takes to protect the integrity of our electoral system. In this City, every vote does count, but only the ones from actual Beverly Hills residents should be included.”

Representatives from the offices of Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder County Clerk, the Los Angeles District Attorney and the California Secretary of State discussed voter fraud at the city council’s study session on January 10, and according to Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office in Los Angeles, “there were 516 Beverly Hills voters registered at non-residential addresses. From that group, there were 492 voters registered to four postal addresses in Beverly Hills.”

Mirisch said he hopes other cities and municipalities join Beverly Hills in fighting against voter fraud.

“Our democracy is too precious to allow its very fundament, our elections, to be subverted,” Mirisch said.

The next election for the city council is on Tuesday, March 7.  Three City Council seats and one City Treasurer seat are up for election. Eight Beverly Hills residents have completed the requirements to become City Council candidates.  One person has filed for the position of City Treasurer and is running unopposed.

To report voter fraud residents can contact the Beverly Hills City Clerk’s Office at (310) 285-2400 or beverlyhills.org/voterfraud CA Secretary of State at (916) 657-2166 or (800) 345-VOTE (8683).

Written By Isiah Reyes and Donald Roberts