Democrats seek to change election rules ahead of recall

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:20 PM PT – Wednesday, June 30, 2021

On Monday, Democrat legislators passed Senate Bill 152, allowing them to speed up California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) recall election. Republicans believe this is an intentional move, alleging Newsom is trying to cheat the recall with the new bill.

Reports said the move would allow lawmakers to skip a 30-day legislative review process as long as money is set aside for counties to pay for the costs of the election. Some critics have said this would allow Democrats to take advantage of “favorable conditions” as Newsom has relaxed COVID-19 restrictions on the state.

It’s official. Gavin Newsom has changed the timing of his own Recall in an attempt to suppress votes against him. All decent Californians must unite to remove the most corrupt governor in our history.

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) June 29, 2021

During the assembly floor session on Monday, GOP Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Calif.) voiced his opposition to the bill saying, “our electoral system is designed to promote democracy, trust and transparency. This bill does the exact opposite.”

Fong said he believes this is solely an effort to manipulate the timing of an election and “attempt to try and obtain a partisan outcome for one side.” He also added that this was not a path they should be going down.

This comes as Democrats have tried to change the rules in the past. Back in 2017, California Democrats changed the recall rules to try and save State Sen. Josh Newman (D) from being recalled.

Now, Republicans say this sudden call to change the rules in Newsom’s recall has unwanted intentions, warning the move could play out in Newsom’s favor.

Supporters of HR 1 should be asked about Gavin Newsom’s election-rigging scheme in the California Recall. Then we’ll know if they care about voting rights or political power.

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) June 30, 2021

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said the state senator had not acted as a judge in the process, saying he had a “bare minimum level of decency” and that it seems to be too much to ask of Newsom. “We have the unprecedented circumstance where Gov. Gavin Newsom with the stroke of a pen will be changing California law in order to try to beat back his own recall,” said Kiley.

Meanwhile, Newsom is suing his own elections chief for refusing to correct a mistake that could fail in labeling Newsom’s political party next to his name on the recall ballot. Critics have suggested the decision may be hinged off of Newsom allegedly being worried that the omission could be seen as a threat as he has previously stated the recall is a Republican effort.

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