This morning Trump railed against California Governor Newsom’s recent executive order to send mail-in ballots to voters ahead of the November election, predicting massive voter fraud and saying it will be a “rigged election”:
“There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!”
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
….living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
What Trump is referring to is a new executive order by Newsom that will completely change the way mail-in ballots would normally be sent to a voter:
California already allows vote-by-mail, but voters have to specifically make a request for the ballot. Under Newsom’s executive order, voters will automatically get a ballot without having to put in an official request.
Registered voters currently living in California will receive a ballot 29 days prior to Election Day. Military members and voters living abroad will get their ballots in the mail 45 days before Election Day.
Because of this Republicans are suing the state:
Republican groups are suing California Governor Gavin Newsom, claiming his recent executive order to mail every registered voter in the state a ballot ahead of the November election is an “illegal power grab” that redesigns the election system.
The lawsuit alleges Newsom’s order is “less about protecting the health of Californians and more about protecting the electoral prospects of the Governor’s political party.”
The Republican National Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the California Republican Party are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
“In a direct usurpation of the legislature’s authority, Governor Newsom issued an executive order purporting to rewrite the entire election code for the November 2020 election cycle,” read the complaint. “This brazen power grab was not authorized by state law and violates both the Elections Clause and Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
The lawsuit contends that the U.S. Constitution reserves for “state legislatures the power to set the time, place and manner of holding elections for Congress and the President.” It further argues that state executive officers like Newsom “have no authority to unilaterally exercise that power.”
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Democrats are using “this pandemic as a ploy to implement their partisan election agenda, and Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order is the latest direct assault on the integrity of our elections.”
‘Never let a crisis go to waste’ is exactly what Democrats are thinking as they try and use this pandemic to gain the upper hand against both Republicans and Trump. Hopefully Republicans will succeed at stopping this madness both in California and across the country.