It is such a huge relief that the California Republican recall failed! We get to keep Governor Gavin Newsom. The counting of the votes isn’t over yet. However, the percentage of votes from people who voted NO (on recalling Governor Newsom) are too high for his opponent to overcome with whatever amount of votes are still to be counted.
On September 14, 2021, FiveThirtyEight stopped updating their statistics on the California Recall election. The latest data showed that 57.3% of votes came from people who wanted to keep Governor Newsom. It also showed 41.5% who wanted to remove him from office. The information came from a number of polls.
On September 14, 2021, the California Secretary of State’s website provided partial, reporting of the outcome of the election. The question voters were asked was: “Shall Gavin Newsom Be Recalled (Removed ) From the Office of Governor?”
As of the night of September 14, 2021, YES votes totaled 3,298,988 (36.1%).
As of the night of September 14, 2021, NO votes totaled 5,841,689 (63.9%).
It should be noted that the official results will be certified by October 22, 2021. This is to allow vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots, and other ballots to continue to be processed and counted after Election night.
Geoffrey Skelly, reporter for FiveThirtyEight provided this explanation:
Early on, the vote results will generally be those from mail-in ballots that were received and counted before election day. According to Political Data Inc., which tracks the ballot returns, about 8.7 million ballots had been returned up through yesterday, and another million of so have been added today. But remember that as long as a ballot was mailed by Election Day, it can be accepted up through a week from now, Sept. 21, so some mail votes will be counted later on. After the initial wave of mail ballot results, the next set of results later on tonight will be mostly in-person votes…
FiveThirtyEight
On September 14, 2021, The Associated Press (AP) posted an article titled: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom beats back GOP-led recall”. From the article:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday emphatically defeated a recall aimed at kicking him out of office early, a contest the Democrat framed as part of a national battle for his party’s values in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and continued threats from “Trumpism”…
…With an estimated two-thirds of ballots counted, “no” on the question of whether to recall Newsom was ahead by a 30-point margin. That lead was built on votes cast by mail and in advance of Tuesday’s in-person balloting, with a strong showing by Democrats. While likely to shrink somewhat in the days ahead as votes cast a polling places are counted, Newsom’s lead couldn’t be overcome…
Associated Press
Why does California have a recall election?
In the 1911 session of the California legislature, a section was added to California’s constitution. It was called “California Proposition 8: Recall of Elected Officials Amendment“. The purpose was to enable the people of California to have a means to “prevent the misuse of power” by means of the initiative, the referendum, and the recall”, Governor Johnson explained in his 1911 inaugural address.
Ballotpedia reported that California Proposition 8 was approved on October 10, 1911. The YES vote was 178,115 (76.82%) and the NO vote was 53,755 (23.18%).
The majority of recall efforts fail
In March of 2021, The Guardian reported the following:
…Republicans had already tried and failed five times to get Newsom recalled, when their sixth try, led by the retired sheriff’s deputy Orrin Heatlie, began to gain momentum last year. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a judge gave Heatlie and his supporters more time to collect signatures. As Newsom enacted restrictions last winter in an attempt to quell the deadliest wave of the pandemic, recallers were able to rally an anti-lockdown base and win over other Californians struggling to cope with the pandemic’s protracted, devastating economic toll. It didn’t help Newsom’s case that around the same time, the governor met up with a dozen of his closest friends and lobbyists for a lavish dinner at Napa’s French Laundry restaurant…
…More than a serious effort to unseat Newsom, the recall effort is probably more of a strategy to rally Republican voters, boost Republican candidates, and raise funds…
The Guardian
On September 13, 2021, NPR reported the following:
…Californians have been legally able to recall their governors since 1911. Every governor in the past 60 years has faced a recall attempt, though only two, including this one, have qualified for the ballot. Newsom has faced at least five attempts.
Newsom’s opponents got 1.7 million signatures to get this recall on the ballot, higher than the 1.5 million needed, but they also had more time than usual. Normally, recall petitioners get a little over five months to turn in signatures. This effort was extended four months beyond that because of the pandemic…
NPR
Some interesting things to know about the recall election:
On August 20, 2021, San Francisco Chronicle posted: “Fact Check: “No, California’s recall ballot was not designed to help Gavin Newsom and cheat Larry Elder”. From the article:
Supporters of recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom, including conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, the leading candidate to replace him, spread false claims this week that the mail ballot was designed to facilitate fraud and rig the election in favor of the governor…
…But the design elements that recall supporters pointed to as evidence of a conspiracy – including a pair of small holes punched into the return envelope – are standard and, in some cases, were added to ensure accuracy and accessibility for all voters…
…These holes are actually a tool to help voters who are visually impaired tactility find where to sign their envelope, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees elections in California. They also serve as a visual check for elections officials to ensure that a ballot has not been left inside an envelope uncounted…
San Francisco Chronicle
In addition, San Francisco Chronicle also reported the following:
…A second false claim, based on a photo of a ballot from Lake County, alleges that the field of 46 replacement candidates was ordered so that a fold would run through Elder’s name, which could cause him not to count.
The order of the ballot is determined by a random drawing and rotates in each of California’s 80 Assembly districts, giving every candidate at least one chance to appear at the top. Each county designs its own ballot. Elder’s name consequently does not appear on a fold for every voter…
…Elder shared an article promoting both of these conspiracies on his Twitter account Thursday evening…
San Francisco Chronicle
On September 12, 2012, NBC Los Angeles 4 posted an article titled: “Woodland Hills Voters Experience Glitch at Check-In Just Days Ahead of Election Day”. From the article:
…In this last weekend before the big day, voters in Woodland Hills experienced a glitch at check-in. Some voters were told they had already voted, when they hadn’t.
A spokesman with the LA County Registrar’s office says voting never stopped at the two locations with this glitch.
Provisional ballots were offered to those affected and people were still able to drop off their ballots, and he says there were some voters checking in without issues…
…The LA County Registrar office confirmed that some voters who were trying to check in at this location [Disabled American Veterans 73 Vote Center in Woodland Hills] and at the El Camino Real Charter High School Vote Center were told the system showed they had already voted, so they were offered a provisional ballot instead.
Provisional ballots are regular ballots that are processed and counted after verifying the voter’s eligibility…
…The registrar’s office says the problem was with the settings on some electronic poll book devices used to check in voters…
NBC Los Angeles 4
To be clear, neither NBC Los Angeles 4, nor I, are saying that this glitch was a shenanigan. That said, several people tweeted as if it was an intentionally done glitch. Those people were spreading misinformation.
Los Angeles County-Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk @LACountyRRCC tweeted (in response to people who were asking): “Voters who experienced this issue early yesterday were offered provisional ballots – the failsafe option to ensure no one is turned away from voting. After troubleshooting, the issue was resolved and the check-in equipment at the location was replaced. Voting has continued.”
On September 13, 2021, NBC News reported the following claims made by (Republican) Larry Elder. He was the person who was getting the highest percentage of votes on question 2 on the ballot, which asked voters who should replace Governor Newsom. From the article:
…Republican Larry Elder appealed on Monday to his supporters to use an online form to report voter fraud, which claimed it had “detected fraud” in the “results” of the California recall election “resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor”.
The only problem: On Monday when the link was live on Elder’s campaign site, the election hadn’t even happened yet. No results had been released. And Elder was still campaigning to replace Newsom as governor…
…The site added on Monday afternoon a disclaimer saying it was “Paid For Larry Elder Ballot Measure Committee Recall Newsom Committee,” with major funding from Elder’s gubernatorial campaign…
…There has been no evidence of voter fraud in California…
NBC News
Also from NBC News, Senior Digital Politics Reporter for @NBCNews Alex Seitz-Wald tweeted a thread that takes a closer look at the misinformation Larry Elder’s website had posted. One of the tweets in the thread pointed out that Larry Elder’s campaign website “suggests that voters will have to open their ‘ammo box’ if they can’t trust elections…”
Jacob Soboroff, reporter for NBC News and MSNBC tweeted: “NEW: GOP frontrunner Larry Elder would not commit to accepting the results of tomorrow’s California recall election when I asked him this morning.” The tweet was posted on September 13, 2021, and it includes a short video of exactly what Jacob Soboroff tweeted.
On September 14, 2021, The Los Angeles Times reported that a poll worker in a West Hollywood poling place was photographed by a person who came in to cast his vote.
…The man handing him his ballot was wearing a baseball cap with the words “Trump 2020”.
The words “All Aboard the Trump Train” could be seen on his face mask, underneath an image of an actual train.
And the poll worker’s T-shirt featured the phrase “Where’s Hunter?” – a reference to the son of President Biden, a frequent target of Republicans…
Los Angeles Times
In California, political attire is not allowed inside poling places. This rule must be followed not only by poll workers, but also by anyone who wants to come inside to vote.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the man who took the photo of the poll worker called the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, asking whether the poll worker’s clothing violated any rules about polling places. Eventually, a spokesman for the registrar-recorder confirmed that the poll worker “had been relieved of his duties”.
In addition, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Twitter account responded to other people who posted a similar photo of the poll worker. @LACountyRRCC tweeted: “This worker was contacted after this was reported and advised that the attire was not appropriate. He is no longer serving as an election worker.”
Where to find the official California Gubernatorial Recall Election results
The best source of information is the California Secretary of State’s official website. The website says the results will be certified by October 22, 2021. This is not unusual. California has a huge population, and it took a long time to record the results of the 2020 election.
The most recent information I could find on the Secretary of State’s website about the number of registered voters in California was from November 6, 2019. At the time, Alex Padilla was California’s Secretary of State. From the news:
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla released the latest statewide report of voter registration showing that 80.65 percent of eligible Californians are registered to vote – the highest percentage since June 1952. As of October 1, 2019, there were 20,328,636 Californians registered as of this report…
…This report of registration reflects data 154 days before the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election…
California Secretary of State website
I was paying close attention to the news regarding the California Recall election. It honestly stressed me out! My biggest worry was that Larry Elder would win, and take away things that Californians need (including protections to help prevent the spread of COVID).
It was a huge relief to know that Governor Gavin Newsom will remain the Governor of California. We need a governor who actually has a background in politics. We certainly don’t need a person who has a background in talk radio as governor!
The Republican Recall in California Failed! is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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