SACRAMENTO (Calif.) - California Republicans accuse Democrats of being unfair Monday when state legislators passed a bill aimed to move up Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will be recalled.It is obvious that Gavin Newsom cheats in recall, and this Legislature is his willing accomplice," stated Kevin Kiley (Republican Assemblyman), who is considering entering the race.Newsom is now awaiting the proposal. It would allow recall to take place at least 30 working days sooner than required by state law. Democrats want to use what they consider favorable circumstances for Newsom, as the state moves past the worst days and restrictions related to the pandemic.Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting acknowledged that the bill would ensure that the recall election takes place as quickly as possible and stated that that was something that recall supporters should desire.Newsom will face an election in the coming months after recall organizers collected over 1.7 million signatures. He would face voters again in 2022 if he didn't recall.In the hope of improving their own lives, this is the second time that Democrats have changed the rules. They added new steps to recall in order to help a senator facing removal. They hoped to slow down the process so that the vote aligned with the next primary. Voters who had signed the recall petition were given 30 days to remove them and a process was established for state finance officials to review and estimate election costs.Democrats' proposal would effectively bypass the legislative review process, provided that lawmakers allocate money to counties for the cost of the election. Already, the state Department of Finance sought an estimate from counties. The lawmakers are expected to approve $215 millions to cover this local expense.Republican lawmakers were also skeptical about how the $35 million would be spent. They cited a $35 million contract that the office had signed last year to support voter outreach with a firm associated to President Joe Biden. Monday's legislation states that the money will be used to support the statewide and local costs of the 2021 governorship recall election." However, it does not specify if the money could be used to hire an external firm.Continue the storyHere we are again. This is a sign of partisanship, and it must stop," Republican Senator Jim Nielsen stated.Democratic Lt. Governor is able to serve without legislative review. Eleni Kounalakis is a Newsom supporter and will be able set an earlier election date. The county clerks stated that they must be available by Sept. 14 or earlier.People who want to move things along believe that the longer voters wait to cast their ballots, then the greater the risk for Newsom. Recent polls indicate that Newsom is in a strong position to retain his seat.Republicans claimed that Newsom's party tried to influence the election.It's an attempt to put one foot on the scale and to get a partisan result for one side," stated Vince Fong, GOP Assemblyman.Expert Joshua Spivak said that it is common for legislators in states that allow recalls of election laws to alter them. However, it happens usually after the contest has ended, and not before. He also noted that attempts to alter election timing don’t always work. This was evident in the case of California state senator Josh Newman who lost his recall election despite Democrats’ rule changes.This really suggests that we may not know what we are doing. Spivak, a senior fellow at Wagner College's Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform and the Recall Elections blog administrator, stated that you are playing with fire.He suggested that the change could backfire as Democrats have less time to motivate voters in an earlier election. The recall effort was spearheaded by Republicans and attracted more than 1.7million signatures. They claim that their voters are motivated.Other changes are made by county clerks to address mail ballots or vote centers. All counties must mail ballots to voters.Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsoms campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether or not the campaign had communicated about recall timing with Democratic lawmakers.
