California Governor Justin Sullivan/Getty Images California elections chief certifies Newsom recall contestOAKLAND California's elections chief has certified the gubernatorial recall on Thursday. This sets up a possible mid-September election to determine whether Gov. Gavin Newsom should be retained in office.Officially, it marks the second-ever state gubernatorial recall following the 2003 ouster by Gov. Gray Davis was replaced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.According to Shirley Weber (Democratic appointee) who certified the recall election on Thursday afternoon, more than 1.7 million people signed petitions. Democratic Lt. Governor. Eleni Kounalakis will likely decide the recall date on Thursday. Sept. 14 seems the most likely spot, given the parameters Kounalakis must follow.Weber moved quickly after Newsom's Department of Finance had released its cost analysis earlier today, which estimated the price tag to be $276 million.The conclusion of the Department of Finance would usually trigger the Legislature to conduct a financial analysis. However, Democratic legislators had already amended state law to waive fiscal review. This expedited the process of setting a vote.Coordinating a state-wide election takes a lot of effort on the part of local elections officials. Newsom's legislation, signed earlier this year, required counties to mail each registered voter a ballot. This means that elections officials must find enough paper to print millions upon completion of the candidate filing period.These challenges were highlighted by election officials earlier this month, when they asked Kounalakis not to hold an election before Sept. 14, claiming that this was the most feasible date.Political observers used to believe that Newsom would be most benefit from an early November election if it followed the usual rhythms of the election cycle. This would help boost turnout in an off year election. However, this logic has changed as California has reopened their economy and Newsom's polling numbers are stable.Democrats are increasingly convinced that Newsom would be better off if he had a earlier vote, which allows him to capitalise on the momentum and leaves Republican foes with less time to plan and fundraise.Republicans objected to legislative Democrats compressing the timeline on these grounds. They claimed that the majority party is manipulating Newsom's process to protect Newsom. Democrats rescinded a 2017 mandate in an attempt to delay the recall state senator Josh Newman in order to consolidate it with a primary election.
