What happens when Republicans play by Democrat rules? Democrats cry that it’s not fair. Naturally.

Such is the case in California, where Democrats are threatening legal action against Republicans who have begun to collect ballots according to the election laws Democrats wrote. The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which opposes ballot harvesting just as we do, gives the background: “In 2016 California Democrats passed a law allowing anybody, including paid campaign operatives and political parties, to collect and return mail-in ballots. Two years later Democrats prohibited ‘disqualifying a ballot solely because the person returning it did not provide on the identification envelope his or her name, relationship to the voter, or signature.’”

Democrats claimed to have flipped seven House seats in 2018, including four in Orange County, by employing the practice of ballot harvesting. If you can’t beat ‘em, join 'em, said Republicans, who have set up locked and supervised ballot collection boxes at GOP offices, churches, and gun shops. That’s a problem for Democrats, because they insist only one can play at this game.

Clearly, this won’t affect the presidential race in California, but it might have an effect down ballot, and that’s what has leaders of this one-party state worried.

When the state attorney general threatened Republicans with legal action, GOP leaders responded, “We believe that temporarily holding [vote by mail] ballots in a locked box at a church or local Party headquarters is more secure than a Party volunteer or paid operative holding harvested ballots collected from voters at a senior center in the back seat of his or her car — though both are legal.” Fact check: Accurate.

As the Journal pithily summed it up, “When Democrats harvest ballots, they are increasing voter access. When Republicans do it, it’s cheating.”

Democrats always blame Republicans for doing what they themselves are doing. “Donald Trump colluded with the Russians,” they insisted for three long years. No, that was Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, ballot integrity is under assault in this election like never before. But from carpet-bombing unsolicited mail-in ballots to ballot harvesting in Democrat-heavy precincts to court rulings preserving extended vote-counting deadlines, it is Democrats, not Republicans, who are undermining our electoral system.