UMVA can exclusively reveal that Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt has lodged a formal complaint accusing incumbent Mayor Karen Bass of breaching election law by campaigning within the prohibited 100‑foot zone around a ballot drop box.
Pratt’s attorney, Peter McNulty, blasted the alleged violation as a “flagrant disregard” of both state and city statutes that forbid any visible or audible electioneering near mail‑in ballot drop boxes.
The law defines illegal electioneering as any display, chant, or solicitation that advocates for a candidate within that tight radius, including loitering or obstructing access to the box.
According to the complaint, Bass’s campaign video shows supporters brandishing signs and chanting “Four more years” while she places her own mail‑in ballot into the drop box, a scene the attorneys call “blatant electioneering directly near a polling place.”
In the footage, Bass is heard urging voters, “One more vote to win!” – a direct solicitation captured just steps from the ballot receptacle.
UMVA has learned that the filing argues the violation extends beyond proximity; it alleges that Bass repeatedly posted the same scene on social media, turning the act into a public rally that could intimidate voters.
The complaint stresses that early voting and Election Day should be treated as a single continuum, meaning the illegal activity occurred while ballots were already being cast.
Pratt seized the moment on social media, declaring that Bass “has repeatedly broken the law with no accountability” and that the complaint aims to protect the integrity of the city’s democratic process.
In response, Bass dismissed the accusation, claiming Pratt’s supporters are “AI cartoons” and insisting her campaign follows the rules.
Her spokesperson countered that the video was filmed at two separate locations—one well beyond the 100‑foot limit and another without any signage—asserting the complaint is “blatantly false.”
