If Republicans lose the Sept 14. vote to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, many are ready to claim voter fraud.
Former President Donald Trump told Newsmax last week that the recall election was “probably rigged.” The leading Republican candidate Larry Elder told reporters in Los Angeles last Wednesday that he believes “there might very well be shenanigans,” according to CNN. Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren said the “only thing” that will save Newsom is “voter fraud,” reported The Daily Beast.
The California Republican Party even created an election integrity website. It encourages voters to report suspicious election activity and aims to "ensure every vote is counted and verified," according to chairwoman of the California Republican Party, Jessica Millan Patterson.
But in a state where Democrats already outnumber Republicans and where Trump lost to President Joe Biden by more than five million votes, will attempts to discredit the election results take hold?
The latest UC Berkeley poll suggested Newsom could win the recall by double digits, making it unlikely that a handful of irregular ballots would change the election's outcome.
“The sort of irregularities that would be needed to keep Larry Elder out of the governor’s office would be an order of magnitude like nothing we’ve ever seen in the history of democracy,” said Michael Latner, a professor of political science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Even so, a recall organizer called voter fraud claims false and bad for the state.
Randy Economy volunteered for Donald Trump and worked for former Rep. Doug Ose before he withdrew from the recall race citing health reasons.
"I think it's most important for the candidates to make their case on why they should be the governor and why Newsom should go," Economy told USA TODAY. "To continue to make this a circus-like atmosphere is not doing anybody any good."
Republican-turned-independent Assemblymember Chad Mayes agreed that pundits and politicians, alike, should stop crying fraud in the recall election. He told Politico that claims of voter fraud will actually keep Republicans out of office in California.
“It’s their excuse for losing elections when, in reality, Republicans need to change if they want to win again in California,” Mayes said, “and when they blame voting fraud it gives them an excuse not to change.”
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