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But this is the era of the Big Lie.
Influenced by former President Donald Trump’s string of lies about the 2020 election he lost, many Republican voters are now unnecessarily suspicious of the integrity of the U.S. elections in general. And prominent Republicans know how to piss off the crowd they’ve created.
As the Sept. 14 recall election day approached, Trump and other right-wing figures, including Newsom’s main replacement candidate Larry Elder, began to lay the groundwork for baselessly dismissing a possible victory for Newsom as a product of Democratic cheating.
Their efforts mirror what happened in the weeks leading up to Election Day 2020, when Trump and his allies relentlessly pushed the lie that Democrats couldn’t beat him in an election that wasn’t “rigged”. And he benefits from years of additional dishonesty, from Trump and others, describing California as a cesspool of illegal mass voting.
Preparatory dishonesty of Trump and others
In a TV interview with Newsmax on Tuesday, Trump called the California recall “likely rigged.” Its supposed evidence?
One: the fact that every active voter registered in California receives a mail-in ballot. There is no evidence of widespread fraud involving mail-in ballots, or any other ballot, in the 2020 election.
Two: The existence of a secure system that allows California voters, such as people with disabilities, to mark their votes at home using their own computer technology, print them out, and mail them to transfer to a normal ballot.
This is, as usual, nonsense. Voters who wish to use this print-at-home system must obtain approval from county election officials, must always have their signatures verified after submitting their votes, and are not allowed to vote more than one ballot. Additionally, the print-at-home system is used by a small percentage of voters – according to the California Secretary of State’s office, only 24,248 of the nearly 17.8 million voters in the 2020 general election, a paltry 0.14%.
Some other Republicans didn’t even bother to provide a specific explanation for their baseless fraud claims this week. In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren
proclaimed that “the only thing that will save Gavin Newsom is voter fraud.” So, as they say, ‘stay awake’. Watch out for the ongoing electoral fraud in California. ”
At a campaign event Wednesday, Elder
noted, “we’ve heard a lot of things that have been suspicious so far,” said “they’re going to cheat, we know that”, and vowed to take legal action. Earlier today, he told reporters that “I think there could very well be some shenanigans, as was the case in the 2020 election.” (Elder has said both times that so many voters are angry with the situation under Newsom that the recall will succeed anyway.)
Reporters from the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times met ordinary voters expressing similar sentiments. And you can easily find it on California Radio. On a Southern California morning show on Wednesday, co-host Grant Stinchfield, who also hosts Newsmax television, casually said, “They’re going to cheat to win. The mail-in voting system is rigged. ”
So don’t be surprised if, after a Newsom win, incredibly slim fraud allegations are circulating on social media and right-wing media. The deception has already started – on the part of the very people who are baseless warning of the deception of their opponents.
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