Meet the man trying to upend voting, starting with California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 1. I’m Sarah Wire and I cover the Justice Department’s investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection for The Times.

Although a federal grand jury is weighing a potential indictment of former President Trump over efforts to keep him in power after the 2020 election, many Americans have moved on from the conspiracy theories that absorbed the nation after the election.

But not everyone.

A determined group is still touring the country telling anyone who will listen that electronic voting machines are manipulating votes. One, Douglas Frank — or “Dr. Frank” as he is known to his followers — has solidly turned his attention to California in the past year.

Frank, a former high school math and science teacher, has criss-crossed the Golden State, giving more than 50 speeches and presentations in churches, bars, country clubs and even buffets. He has been meeting privately with county supervisors, registrars of voters and political activists as he attempts to build a grassroots movement to reject electronic voting machines.

But California has little chance of turning red. So what does Frank hope to accomplish? I hopped on a plane and followed one of Frank’s marathon tours to find out.

In Hemet, I watched him speak to an audience of mostly older conservatives about his theories. I talked with attendees of a private meeting he had with election officials in Hanford. In Acampo, I watched him hint to an audience at a Moose Lodge that a shadowy entity was using voting machines to manipulate election results.

He speaks reverently of the success activists had in pushing the Shasta County Board of Supervisors to end its contract with Dominion Voting Systems and stop using electronic machines to tabulate ballots. Only a handful of counties in the U.S. have stopped using election machines since 2020 and Shasta is the largest.

I also spoke with Frank’s biggest critic, Stanford University professor Justin Grimmer and with elected leaders in the counties Frank had visited. Everyone I spoke with said Frank stands out from others spreading similar theories because he’s meeting people on their home turf, he’s charismatic and he seems to honestly believe his argument that big changes are needed to save America.

“I’m fighting for the country that I grew up in that’s no longer here,” Frank told me in an interview.

California is the most populous state in the nation, and Frank believes that convincing just one county here to change how it votes would have a huge effect. With conservatives here already frustrated by the state’s left lean, Frank has found a receptive audience.

Frank’s story, and his time in California, is the first story in an occasional series from The Times looking at the current state of the election denial movement and those who are fueling it ahead of the 2024 election.

You can read the whole story here.

And now, here’s what’s happening across California from Ryan Fonseca:

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L.A. STORIES

The “heat dome” that’s been hanging over Southern California for weeks will recede a bit this week, with potential thunderstorms on tap. But the slightly cooler temperatures won’t last long; National Weather Service forecasters expect high heat to return over the weekend. Los Angeles Times

Where do striking actors go to eat, drink and commiserate? Times food columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson spent a night at Residuals, an industry bar in Studio City, to talk to performers about their livelihoods and their labor action. Los Angeles Times

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

This photo provided by the National Park Service Mojave National Preserve shows a tanker making a fire retardant drop over the York fire in Mojave National Preserve on Saturday.

(R. Almendinger / National Park Service)

The York fire burning in the Mojave Desert grew to 77,000 acres as of early Monday, making it California’s largest wildfire so far this season. The blaze has burned through Mojave National Preserve in eastern San Bernardino County and spread west into Nevada. While the full scope of damage of the active fire can’t be determined, it has burned through the state’s delicate Joshua trees, which had just been granted new protections this month. Los Angeles Times

Temperatures aren’t the only thing rising this summer. COVID-19 is also an upward trend in recent weeks. Statewide, the test positivity rate hit 7.6% last week, up from 4.1% the month before. Experts point to the resurgence of summer travel, largely maskless large gatherings and increased time since many people’s last booster. Los Angeles Times

California is short thousands of nurses, with some Southern California hospitals facing vacancy rates of 30% or more. That’s led to disagreements between hospitals, unions and nursing schools over the best ways to address the staffing shortfalls. CalMatters

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

L.A. County canceled a grant-funded program that provided mental health triage teams to children and adults experiencing emotional distress. But because the program hadn’t spent all the grant money, county officials are set to return roughly $15 million back to the state. “The dispute over how L.A. handled the triage teams highlights how counties in California fund mental health services,” my colleague Lila Seidman wrote,” which frequently involves new ideas being funded temporarily then abandoned as county leaders fail to come up with plans to sustain them before the money dries up.” Los Angeles Times

California’s latest successful “Land Back” effort unfolded in Marin County this month. The Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin purchased 26 acres in the rural community of Nicasio, which had previously been part of their tribal territory. Members said they hope to create a space for those with Coast Miwok roots to gather and connect with their heritage. KQED

TECH AND BUSINESS

The fate of AM radio is up in the air(waves). Some major automakers have announced they’ll remove the band from electric vehicles, citing issues with electromagnetic interference. But there’s a new bipartisan push to mandate that car companies don’t touch that AM dial. Los Angeles Times

Elon Musk’s Twitter rebrand continues to go … some sort of way. A massive X sign on the San Francisco headquarters has been removed, following complaints from neighbors about its bright strobe effects and a violation notice from the city because it was installed without proper permits. Los Angeles Times

AND FINALLY

Today’s California landmark is from Theo Moreno of Cambria: Hearst Castle in San Simeon, “one of the crown jewels of the California State Park system,” Theo wrote.

Theo take a waterless dip in the pool at Hearst Castle — one of the “perks” of working as a guide there, he said.

(Theo Moreno)

Theo added:

What are California’s essential landmarks? Fill out this form to send us your photos of a special spot in California — natural or human-made. Tell us why it’s interesting and what makes it a symbol of life in the Golden State. Please be sure to include only photos taken directly by you. Your submission could be featured in a future edition of the newsletter.

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.