SAN DIEGO — A federal lawsuit has been filed by two California voters who say the recall election is unconstitutional. They’d like to see the election called off or the ballot drastically changed before the September 14 election date.
With the recall election less than a month away and ballots already in the mail, the lawsuit seems to be a last-ditch effort to stop the election from happening at all.
A recent CBS News poll shows that California voters are split 52% against the recall and 48% voting to have Governor Gavin Newsom removed from office.
“The momentum has been growing for this recall election. We have seen the numbers increase over the last several months, really in favor of, perhaps, actually recalling the governor,” said political analyst Wendy Patrick.
The federal lawsuit argues that the way the ballot is set up creates an unfair advantage for Newsom’s opponents, violating the “one person, one vote” principle because Newsom can’t be selected as a candidate. The California Democratic Party is urging its voters to simply leave the questionnaire blank when asked who should replace Governor Newsom.
The lawsuit also argues that Newsom could receive more votes than any other candidate, but still be removed from office and replaced with someone who received fewer votes.
“What’s so landmark about this case, is that it’s a constitutional level case. This isn’t partisan. This is really about the federal law overseeing California’s elections and making sure that they conform to that U.S. Constitution,” said political analyst Laura Fink.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy is Chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party. The latest polls show about 60% of Californians approve of Newsom’s performance and he said over half of eligible voters are also unhappy with the current recall process.
“It’ll probably take a constitutional amendment and polling does show that the vast majority of Californians do not want to spend $276 million on this election and believes that the recall process is too easy and is in need of reform,” Rodriguez-Kennedy said.
Fink said no matter what the federal court decides in this case, state lawmakers and voters still have the power to change how a recall process will be handled moving forward.
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