Don't Think There's Election Manipulation? Consider the 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election...

Don't think there's election manipulation?

Consider California's gubernatorial elections of 2018 and 2022, and the recall election of 2021.

In November 2018, Gavin Newsom won the California gubernatorial election in a landslide—the biggest such victory in the state in almost 70 years—winning 61.94% of the 12,466,253 ballots cast.

This election was held on the same day as the national midterms elections, so California voters were making their choices for all 53 members to the United States House of Representatives, one member to the United States Senate, all eight state constitutional offices, all four members to the Board of Equalization, 20 members to the California State Senate, and all 80 members to the California State Assembly, among other local elected offices.

In addition, there were 12 propositions on the ballots regarding a wide range of issues--from bond issuances for a variety of state programs, to enacting daylight savings, to farm animal welfare.

In other words, Californians had a host of incentives to cast their ballots.

A little more than a year later, in February of 2020, a group of disaffected residents filed a petition with the state with their grievances: "People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result."
After their petition was approved, and the requisite signatures were collected, a recall election was held on September 14, 2021.

As a result, Newsom retained the governorship with 61.88% of the total vote tally of 12,838,565. (Technically, voters were deciding not to remove Newsom from the governorship.)

In 2018, 61.94%.

In 2021, 61.88%.

Nearly identical.

So...

...with just one ONE issue on the ballot, and in the wake of Newsom's draconian Covid policies and his well-publicized debacle at The French Laundry restaurant (where he and his high profile guests flouted his own pandemic restrictions), amid the increasing problems of homelessness and illegal immigration, with a full-throated statewide opposition able to garner the funds to organize, and, subsequently, to collect 1,720,000 million verified signatures--all done during Covid--Newsom received nearly the identical percent of votes, and 220,000 MORE total votes than he did in his historic, landslide victory of 2018.

So, you say, Newsom was evidently a popular governor and the state's residents approved of his policies.

Perhaps.

However, just 13 months later, in November of 2022, when, again, the gubernatorial election coincided with the national midterms (and residents across California had many more reasons to go to the voting booth), Newsom would win his second term as Governor with 1.5 million FEWER votes than during the recall election (even though California had just adopted universal mail-in ballots, per a bill signed by Newsom).

While none of this is proof of election manipulation, if I were part of the ruling Democrat elite in California, and wanted to make a point to my opponents bold enough to garner the funds and support for a recall election, all the while wanting to maintain a presidential posture for 2024--in the event Biden is unable to be the Democrat nominee--but certainly with an eye for 2028, I would make sure my historic landslide of 2018 was replicated for the recall election.

#electionfraud #electionmanipulation #Newsom #California #recallelection