California's Recall Vote (September 14) Is Patently UnconstitutionalBefore Votes Are Counted, Elder Appears To Concede And Claim Voter Fraud

Erwin Chemerinsky and Aaron S. Edlin, New York Times, August 11, 2021:

The most basic principles of democracy are that the candidate who gets the most votes is elected and that every voter gets an equal say in an election's outcome. The California system for voting in a recall election violates these principles and should be declared unconstitutional.

Unless that happens, on Sept. 14, voters will be asked to cast a ballot on two questions: Should Gov. Gavin Newsom be recalled and removed from office? If so, which of the candidates on the ballot should replace him?

The first question is decided by a majority vote. If a majority favors recalling Mr. Newsom, he is removed from office. But the latter question is decided by a plurality, and whichever candidate gets the most votes, even if it is much less than a majority, becomes the next governor. Critically, Mr. Newsom is not on the ballot for the second question.

By conducting the recall election in this way, Mr. Newsom can receive far more votes than any other candidate but still be removed from office. Many focus on how unfair this structure is to the governor, but consider instead how unfair it is to the voters who support him.

Imagine that 10 million people vote in the recall election and 5,000,001 vote to remove Mr. Newsom, while 4,999,999 vote to keep him in office. He will then be removed and the new governor will be whichever candidate gets the most votes on the second question. In a recent poll, the talk show host Larry Elder was leading with 18 percent among the nearly 50 candidates on the ballot. With 10 million people voting, Mr. Elder would receive the votes of 1.8 million people. Mr. Newsom would have the support of almost three times as many voters, but Mr. Elder would become the governor.

That scenario is not a wild hypothetical. Based on virtually every opinion poll, Mr. Newsom seems likely to have more votes to keep him in office than any other candidate will receive to replace him. But he may well lose the first question on the recall, effectively disenfranchising his supporters on the second question.

This is not just nonsensical and undemocratic. It is unconstitutional. It violates a core constitutional principle that has been followed for over 60 years: Every voter should have an equal ability to influence the outcome of the election.

Larry Elder Preemptively Concedes Defeat, Launches Voter-Fraud Site
Justin Baragona, The Daily Beast, September 14, 2021

Before the results of Tuesday's California gubernatorial recall election have even come in, top-polling Republican candidate Larry Elder appeared to be already conceding defeat on Monday and preparing to blame his loss on baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. As first reported by the Sacramento Bee, Elder's campaign launched a website calling for his supporters to report incidents of fraud and sign a petition to investigate the election results.

The site, which is paid for by the campaign, includes language that assumes Gov. Gavin Newsom had already won, though no results had yet been released and Elder is still campaigning. "We implore you… to join us in this fight as you are able, primarily by signing our petition demanding a special session of the California legislature to investigate and ameliorate the twisted results of this 2021 Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom," the site says.

Additionally, the website states "statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran) have detected fraud in California resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor."

With polls showing Newsom heavily favored to remain in office, Elder and other Republicans have increasingly and falsely suggested the election is rigged in favor of the Democrats, echoing former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about the 2020 presidential election.