Larry Elder: California’s Leading Refund Competitor Takes A Page From Trump’s Big Lie Book | California

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As Californians head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to keep Gavin Newsom in office, the Democratic governor’s main challenger is already trying to cast doubt on the outcome of the election.

Larry Elder, the right-wing radio host who currently leads the group of Newsom’s Republican challengers in the polls, has been spreading conspiracy theories to falsely suggest that if he loses, the election has been rigged against him.

Elder told reporters that there may be “scams” in the election and has a link on his website to a website that encourages users to “fight election fraud in California” by submitting reports of “irregularities, interference or intimidation.” There is no evidence of widespread election fraud.

Opinion polls indicated Newsom, who remains broadly popular in the state despite Republican-led impeachment efforts, has a comfortable lead in Tuesday’s election.

Elder conspiracy theories reflect Donald Trump’s efforts to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen and rigged against him. The language on the Elder-linked website appears to have been lifted from a petition circulated to aid Trump’s efforts to overturn last year’s presidential election results.

On Monday, Trump added fuel to the fire with a statement that said, “Does anyone really believe that the California recall election was not rigged?”

Republicans across the United States have resorted to Trump’s big lie to propose legislation that would make voting more difficult and make it easier to overturn future elections.

“It’s just an extension of the big lie and ‘stop theft,'” Newsom told reporters last week. I think it’s important to highlight that.”

David Mead of Thousand Oaks, California, shows his support for Larry Elder at a rally on September 6. Photo: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Rex/Shutterstock

But for California Republicans, Elder’s claims also raise new problems. California’s Republican Party has only 24% of registered voters, compared to 46.5% for Democrats, making every Republican vote crucial to the success of the impeachment effort.

This week, Republican Party officials appeared to be trying to encourage everyone to vote, while also touting the narrative that election security in California cannot be trusted.

Harmette Dillon, an attorney and National Committee member for the California Republican National Committee, said she made a video with her husband showing how they cast their vote by mail and urging everyone to do the same.

But Dillon also claimed that she could not say whether the California elections would be safe and secure, citing an incident in Los Angeles where some people who attended to vote were told they had actually voted.

The Los Angeles County Registry said the error was caused by some settings on the computers used to register voter arrivals before ballots were issued. The office said those affected were allowed to cast their provisional votes, which act as placeholders until voter eligibility is determined, but Dillon said that would increase voter distrust.

“There will be a lot of questions and potential litigation after this election about this sloppy treatment at best of people’s votes and their right to vote,” Dillon said. I think people should go out and vote. We have to document the problems, and we have to litigate those problems.”

Extensive voter fraud problems did not surface. Much of the Republican Party’s criticism of the California election has focused on the widespread use of mail-in ballots, which have been automatically sent to all active registered voters for state elections since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. But the vast majority of California voters cast their ballots by mail even before the pandemic spread.

As of Saturday, 7.8 million ballot papers have been cast, or roughly 35% of registered voters, according to Political Data Inc, a data company that works with Democrats. Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Register Office, said voting by mail is “reliable, safe and secure.”

“There are extensive protocols in place that ensure the security and verification of all mail-returned votes,” Sanchez said. “The allegations ignore and misrepresent those guarantees. As a result, their messages may be confusing to voters and discourage participation.”

A voter drops his or her ballot by mail as California goes to the polls in the state’s gubernatorial impeachment. Photograph: Fred Graves/Reuters

California’s Secretary of State, Shirley Webber, said concerns about election security were “inaccurate.” The state’s chief election official said California has “tested the most stringent voting system, usage procedures and security requirements in the state.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, polls had shown a tight race between Newsom and Eder, but they are now heading in the governor’s favour. The California governor described the choice between him and Republican challengers like Elder as “a choice about life and death.”

Newsom got support during the campaign trail from Joe Biden, who surveyed bushfire damage with the governor on Monday as the state grapples with another devastating fire season.

The president, who warned that the election result could have far-reaching effects across the United States, called the sheikh a “Donald Trump clone.”

Can you imagine him being the governor of this state? You cannot let that happen. “There is a lot at stake,” Biden said at a rally in Long Beach alongside Newsom.

Among Californians who have already voted, most have been Democrats who are likely to oppose impeachment, according to Early Returns. More Republicans are expected to vote in person on Tuesday.

GOP officials say they are working to have polling monitors in every county to monitor voting sites and county registration offices, where staff will check and count votes. The state’s Republican Party is also urging voters to report suspicious voting activity to the party.

Not all Republicans make these claims. John Cox, a businessman running to replace Newsom, said concerns about voter fraud are “another distraction.”

“Honestly, all this talk of election invalidity is a dead end because it will result in some people deciding not to vote,” Cox said while campaigning Monday outside the capital.

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