The recall is powered by a partisan, Republican coalition of national Republicans, anti-vaxxers, QAnon conspiracy theorists, anti-immigrant activists and Trump supporters. They want to overturn Governor Newsom’s election, and their victory could threaten California’s efforts to fight COVID-19.
From the Los Angeles Times: they say this recall is “Allied with radical and extreme elements… includ[ing] groups promoting distrust of government, science and medicine; peddlers of QAnon doomsday conspiracies; “patriots” readying for battle and one organization allied with the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys.”
POLITICO reported how one of the co-founders and chief organizers of the recall suggested it would be a good idea to “microchip” immigrants, and anti-immigrant rhetoric has been central to recall organizers’ appeals to supporters.
National Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Devin Nunes have all backed the recall effort. The Republican National Committee has even cut the recall campaign a $250,000 check.
Instead of fighting COVID-19, Republicans are pulling a page from the Trump playbook and attacking Californians. In fact, a Republican recall will cost the state $100 million – money that could be used to help vaccinate our communities.
You will be asked to vote on two questions:
1. Should Gov. Newsom be recalled (fired)?
2. If Gov. Newsom is recalled, who should replace him?
If more than half of voters vote yes on question #1, Newsom is recalled, and whoever wins more votes than any other challenger becomes the next governor.
This is tricky! It has a bunch of weird ramifications:
Gov. Newsom isn’t actually listed as a candidate. The candidates are all challengers. If you want Gavin Newsom to remain Governor of California, vote NO on question 1.
More than half the voters must vote no on question 1 to defeat the recall and keep Newsom in the governor’s office.
If fewer than 50% of voters vote no on question 1, the challenger with the most votes in question 2 becomes governor — even if that person only has a tiny percentage of the votes. And because there are so many challengers, it’s possible for one person to be the most popular challenger even with less than 5% of the vote.
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