The California republican Party has set up a series of “official” ballot drop boxes throughout southern California and promoted them on social media in an illegal ballot harvesting operation, the Washington Post reports.

The boxes, located outside places like churches, gun shops and gyms are bedecked in with a sign that labels it “Official Ballot Drop Off Box.”  The locations of these boxes have been promoted by social media accounts run by republican operatives.

Jordan Tygh, a republican regional field director, posted a now-deleted tweet proclaiming “Doing my part and voting early. … DM me for convenient locations to drop your ballot off at!”

The state government, however, has declared the efforts illegal for a number of reasons, including the fact that there’s no way to ensure the security of the unofficial boxes and that the people collecting the ballots are not authorized to collect them.

“Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes — especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes — is not just misleading to voters, it’s a violation of state law,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, told The Post in an email. “My office is coordinating with local officials to address the multiple reports of unauthorized ballot drop boxes. Californians should only use official ballot drop boxes that have been deployed and secured by their county elections office.”

The California Secretary of State office has said that advertising boxes as “official” can lead to a felony conviction punishable by two to four years in jail.

“If a congregation/business or other group provides the option to its parishioners/associates/ or colleagues to drop off their ballot in a safe location, with people they trust, rather than handing it over to a stranger who knocks on their door — what is wrong with that?” the California GOP tweeted.

In California, authorized and sworn campaign workers are allowed to collect ballots from voters, which is very different than putting a ballot into an unsecured box.