Gavin Newsom was the target of a “recall ballot”, obtained by disgruntled citizens, which allowed him to unseat a governor outside of any electoral calendar.
Victory for the Joe Biden Democratic field. California voters have decided to keep their governor in office, Gavin Newsom, in overwhelmingly voting “no” in the referendum organized by his detractors to get his resignation, according to first estimates released Tuesday, September 14 by the American media.
Less than an hour after polling stations closed (20:00 local time, 5:00 French time on Wednesday), the “no” got about two-thirds of the votes after counting more than 60% of the votes already counted, according to CNN and NBC. With this leadership, both channels estimate that Democrat Gavin Newsom will remain governor of the most populous state in the United States and complete his term, even if the Republican ballots rebalance the score in the following hours or days. About 9 million voters voted early, which allowed the first quick projections to be obtained.
this vote “say ‘yes’ to what is dear to us Californians”, Gavin Newsom said about the announcement of these initial results. “As a State, we said yes to science, yes to vaccines, yes to the end of the pandemic (…) yes to the right to vote without fear of false accusations of fraud”, said the governor.
Using a provision of the California Constitution, disaffected citizens, very quickly mobilized by the Republican Party, obtained this “repeal vote” that allows to unseat a governor outside any electoral calendar, after having collected more than 1.5 million signatures. Echoing the deep division that divides the United States, California supporters of the referendum denounced excessive taxes, a democratic “elite” considered disdainful, and individual liberties despised by authorities since the beginning of the pandemic.