This week, Chad, Shawn, and Cara break down the five-day vote count that knocked Spencer Pratt out of the LA mayoral runoff - and why "fraud" is the wrong story. Cara walks through her viral article on Tom Steyer's $216 million spend, the DSA/progressive turnout machine, and how legal ballot harvesting in high-density neighborhoods delivered the late surge for Nithya Raman. Then the crew zooms out to the California governor's race, the bad-faith attacks on top-two primaries, and the record independent (NPP) turnout nobody's covering. Plus: Maine's remarkably civil ranked-choice governor's primary, a fight over slow vote counts that even the New York Times is picking, and a court challenge that could revive open primaries in Oklahoma. 

This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project and produced by Olas Media. 

Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us  and https://independentvoterproject.org 

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Chapters:

00:00:00 – Ballot Harvesting, Fraud Claims & the LA Mayor's Race

00:04:38 – How Ballot Harvesting Works & the Steyer Ground Game

00:09:25 – Progressive Alliances, Nonprofits & Unreported Spending

00:13:27 – NPP Voters Surge & the Real Purpose of Top Two

00:17:34 – California Governor's Race: Becerra & Hilton Advance

00:20:14 – Party Operatives, Media Bait & the Top Two Debate

00:24:50 – Maine Ranked Choice Voting & the Governor's Race

00:29:53 – California's Ballot Counting Timeline & the Postmark Debate

00:34:46 – Election Suspicion, Transparency & the Nine-Day Window

00:36:45 – Oklahoma's Open Primary Signature Fight