Breanna Reeves |
The recall process requires California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber to provide a certified list of candidates to the county elections officials by the 55th day before the recall election. Once candidates are certified, they will appear on the ballot.
California residents will receive their ballots that will first ask if they want to recall the current governor. If they answer “yes” voters will then choose a replacement candidate from those listed on the ballot.
The votes for a successor candidate will only be counted if more than 50% of voters casting ballots in the recall election vote to recall the governor. If a majority of voters vote “no” to the question of recalling the sitting governor, then the recall fails and Newsom will remain in office.
If Newsom is recalled, on the 38th day after the election, the Secretary of State will certify the election results and the new governor will take the oath of office and assume the position.
Despite this special election for the governor’s seat, the 2022 Gubernatorial Election will still take place, meaning if Newsom is replaced in September, the replacement candidate will temporarily fill the governor’s seat until November 2022.
How do voters feel about the recall?
While California is overwhelmingly a Democratic state, the recall is largely fueled by Republican opponents in the state.
According to the Riverside County Republican Party, who supports the efforts to Recall Governor Gavin Newsom, “Newsom has devastated the state’s economy with his dictatorial on-again, off-again shut down orders. We pay the highest taxes in the nation for a state government that treats business and middle-income families as the enemy, catering exclusively to monied special interests in Sacramento.”
The Recall Governor Gavin Newsom campaign reported the Secretary of State verified 146,803 valid signatures in the County of Riverside, 106,475 in San Bernardino County and 264,495 in Los Angeles County, all of which exceed the required threshold.
According to a statewide California voter survey conducted in March by Probolsky Research, 71.9 percent of African American voters said they would vote no on the question “shall Gavin Newsom be removed from the office of governor?” In the same survey, 41.4 percent of Latino and Hispanic voters said they would vote no, 48.9 percent of White voters said they would vote no and 48.9 percent of Asian voters said they would vote no.
“I mean, look, people of color have never had a better friend than Governor Newsom. And I’m not just speaking in terms of, as a member of the Riverside County Board of Education, but I also serve as the vice chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus,” said Corey A. Jackson, the first African American person elected to serve on the Riverside County Board of Education. “We’ve never seen a governor appoint so many diverse people in so many high places. People of color, marginalized, traditionally oppressed people have never had a better friend in the governor’s mansion than Governor Newsom and so this time we’re not going to fall for this trick.”
In May the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) conducted a survey that measured how voters feel about recalling the governor.
“The remarkably stable opposition to the recall of Gavin Newsom is driven by a large and consistent partisan divide that favors the Democratic governor,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO.
The survey noted, 40 percent of likely voters say they would vote yes to remove Newsom from office, while 57 percent would vote no and 3 percent do not know.
“Views on the recall break along partisan lines, with Republicans (78%) far more likely than Independents (47%) and Democrats (11%) to say they would vote to remove Newsom. Support for the recall is higher in inland regions (56% Inland Empire, 49% Central Valley) than coastal areas (42%) Orange/San Diego, (32%) Los Angeles, and (32%) in the San Francisco Bay Area,” the survey noted.
“Not only do I think there aren’t any viable candidates, they’re all dangerous candidates. These are all candidates who are going to set California back. And it’s the people who are most in need [who] are going to be the ones who suffer the most,” said Jackson.
Breanna Reeves is a reporter in Riverside, California, and uses data-driven reporting to cover issues that affect the lives of Black Californians. Breanna joins Black Voice News as a Report for America Corps member. Previously, Breanna reported on activism and social inequality in San Francisco and Los Angeles, her hometown. Breanna graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in Print & Online Journalism. She received her master’s degree in Politics and Communication from the London School of Economics. Contact Breanna with tips, comments or concerns at breanna@voicemediaventures.com or via twitter @_breereeves.