California's governor Gavin Newsom is facing recall. The recall election is set to happen Tuesday, after an 18-month effort by opposing politicians and activists. California is a state seen by many as a "trendsetter," according to USA Today, and ousting a Democrat governor could have aftershocks across the country; some experts even assert places like the US Senate and House in the 2022 elections could be affected. Republicans who support impeachment argue that Newsom is to blame for bad responses to natural disasters and for COVID outbreaks in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. The movement to recall Newsom began after strict lockdown procedures he outlined, and the apparent breach of his own rules when he attended a dinner party after telling Americans not to visit their families during the holidays for virus safety.
The top candidate against Newsom is Larry Elder, a black, conservative radio host who is ahead in the polls. The only Democrat leading the race is Kevin Paffrath, a YouTuber and real estate businessman who is running as a moderate Democrat and backup for liberal voters if Newsom should lose the election.
After the recall election was announced in July, false claims began to surface on right-wing sites about voter fraud. More recently, these have begun to accelerate after a recent poll showing Newsom far ahead in the recall election. Larry Elder said he was "concerned" about election fraud, and Fox News commentators suggested fraud was the only way he could win, according to the NY Times. Many Republican voters are making the decision to make their votes in person instead of by mail due to fear of fraud.
Nick Cotasaniti for the Times says this "signals the growing normalization of crying fraud" whenever Republicans fear losing a race. However, signs point to the idea that statements of voter fraud could have adverse results for Republicans in elections. Many Republicans who voted in the primaries in Georgia did not, and Democrats won by a very small margin, possibly because they felt their vote did not matter due to fraud.
To know if claims of voter fraud in California will make another legal spectacle like the 2020 elections, we will just have to wait and see.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/12/us/politics/gop-voter-fraud-california-recall.htmlhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/12/california-recall-election-gavin-newsom-whats-at-stake/5781406001/
1 comment:
It is very interesting to learn about Gavin Newsome and his recall. I don’t like the fact that he presented a bad image of himself by going to a dinner party after enforcing a very strict lockdown. Why would Californian citizens follow the lockdown, knowing that the person in charge of the lockdown wasn’t following it? He was not setting a good example and he was being a poor role model. That being said, I don’t really like the recall. Everybody makes mistakes and they should learn from them but nothing Newsome has done has warranted a recall in my opinion. I think it is too drastic a measure. It seems these days, politics are very polarized. Each party is vying for power and doing almost anything to keep it like the riots in the capital (although not really a republican doing, it can be linked to Trump and his messages). I feel like this recall is just another example. The crying for voter fraud is also another clear example of this power grab. It is not a coincidence that right-wing sites are the ones creating this myth without any evidence whatsoever. Any right wing media supports these falsehoods, perpetuating a cycle of voter fraud cries and distrust in the system. To me, there is no voter fraud until evidence says otherwise. In fact, voter fraud has been claimed for a while now especially in the national election and as far as I can tell, no evidence of such a thing has come out of it. The American citizens have the right to claim fraud but I think it is the wrong thing to do at the time being. As far as what will happen in the future, I hope it doesn’t become like the national elections. My prediction is that if Newsome wins, voter fraud claims will be everywhere but I don’t think the riots or anything like that will happen again. I just think the media will be talking about voter fraud for an annoying amount of time. I hope that isn’t the case with more pressing matters but I can’t control what the media portrays.
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