Good morning! Time to talk about the dangers of recalling the governor of California… WHAT’S AT STAKE I’ve wrote last week to discourage voting to recall Governor Newsom. My primary arguments were on two grounds. First, we have elections every four years and that is when we should decide whether to continue the tenure of elected officials. Even if we think they have done a less than adequate job, an election is just around the corner. Second, recall should be reserved for only the most egregious malfeasance in office and not for a “do-over.” Plus there is a third reason: It is a non-democratic means of circumventing an election result with high turnout, substituting in its stead a low-turn-out recall ballot without initiatives and other “down ballot” initiatives and offices that would draw higher turnout. This is pernicious for reasons everyone’s been reading about. Newsome may get a 49% vote to beat back recall but then one person among a field of over 40 candidates can find themselves governor with no more than 20% of the vote (in a low-turnout election!).
#124 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday August 23)
#124 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday August…
#124 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday August 23)
Good morning! Time to talk about the dangers of recalling the governor of California… WHAT’S AT STAKE I’ve wrote last week to discourage voting to recall Governor Newsom. My primary arguments were on two grounds. First, we have elections every four years and that is when we should decide whether to continue the tenure of elected officials. Even if we think they have done a less than adequate job, an election is just around the corner. Second, recall should be reserved for only the most egregious malfeasance in office and not for a “do-over.” Plus there is a third reason: It is a non-democratic means of circumventing an election result with high turnout, substituting in its stead a low-turn-out recall ballot without initiatives and other “down ballot” initiatives and offices that would draw higher turnout. This is pernicious for reasons everyone’s been reading about. Newsome may get a 49% vote to beat back recall but then one person among a field of over 40 candidates can find themselves governor with no more than 20% of the vote (in a low-turnout election!).