County League of Women Voters explain recall
The League of Women Voters of Tulare County has provided information to voters explaining how the recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom works.
Election day is September 14 but mail-in ballots were being sent to all registered voters in the state, beginning on Monday, August 16.
The League of Women Voters is presenting the information that was presented by the Tulare County Election Office.
There are two questions on the ballot. The first question is “Shall GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?”
The ballot has two choices for this question: “VOTE NO If you want Gov. Newsom to REMAIN in office as governor” or “VOTE YES if you do NOT want Gov. Newsom to remain in office as governor.
The second question lists the candidates who would succeed Newsom. There are 46 candidates listed. Those who voted yes to the first question may still vote for any of the candidates listed.
As far as write-ins, not all write-ins are counted. In order to qualify qualify to receive votes, write-in candidates must fulfill certain requirements. The deadline to fulfill those requirements is August 31. Thus, the Secretary of State cann’t post the qualifying write-in candidates on its website until September 1, even though those in the state have already been voting.
The League of Women Voters stated a frequent question they receive is can they write in Newsom. The answer is no as those write-in votes won’t be counted as Newsom can’t qualify to run against himself.
As with the 2020 election there are several ways in which voters can cast a ballot.
They can use their mail-in ballot and mail it in and no postage is necessary. The League of Women voters state be sure to follow the “How to Vote Your Vote by Mail Ballot” instructions enclosed with the ballot. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by September 14 to be counted.
There are also 12 official drop boxes throughout the county in which a mail-in ballot can be placed. A mail-in ballot must be placed in one of these drop boxes.
A list of the locations is included with the ballot that was mailed. Mailin ballots can be dropped off up until September 14.
Local drop off box locations are the City Recycle Drop-off/cngfuel Station at 555 N. Prospect, Porterville, the Porterville Transit Center and Lindsay City Hall.
Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off at the Tulare County Election Office across from Mooney Grove. Mail-in ballots can be dropped off at the election office up until September 14.
Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off at polling places on election day.
2) Use your Vote-bymail ballot, and drop it into any of the 12 secure “Official Drop Box” locations in the County. A list of these locations is included with the ballot mailed to you. This can be done any time between now and September 14.
Voters can authorize a representative to drop off a mail-in ballot for them by following strict instructions that come on the ballot.
Voters can also vote in person on election day,
Tuesday, September 14, at polling places from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters need to take their mailin ballot with them.
Local polling places are the CHMA Community Center at 466 E. Putnam in Porterville, First Baptist Church, 101 N. G. Street, Porterville, the Springville Memorial Building, the Lindsay Memorial Building, Pleasant View School, 18900 Avenue 145, Poplar, the Strathmore Memorial Building, the Porterville Veterans Memorial Building and the Terra Bella Memorial Building.
Recent polls show to vote to recall Newsom could be a close race, which could possibly even mean depending on the number of mail-in ballots, results of the recall won’t be known on election night.
If the majority of voters, more than 50 percent, vote yes on question 1, California will have a new governor. In that event the candidate with the most votes — and it doesn’t have to be a majority — becomes governor.
So in that scenario it’s likely the new governor would receive less votes than the number of votes against the recall.