By Jenny Manrique. Ethnic Media Services/Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]

California will hold a recall election against Governor Gavin Newsom on September 14, and if majorities vote to remove him from office, a new governor will be elected that same day from a certified list of 46 candidates.

24 Republicans, nine Democrats, two Green Party members, one Libertarian and 10 with no party preference are vying to replace Newsom, who will face a referendum on his tenure at the ballot box amid the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires and a record-breaking drought.

"It's probably the most important election we'll see in a long time, not only because of the implications of who becomes governor, but also because of the message it sends to the entire country about California politics," said Secretary of State Shirley Nash Weber in a conversation with reporters organized by Ethnic Media Services.

The best-known names in the list of certified candidates including housewives, college students and former public officials are Republican Caitlyn Jenner, an Olympic gold medalist, and Larry Elder, a conservative radio host. Democratic candidate Kevin Paffrath, a personal finance influencer with more than 1.6 million YouTube followers, is another popular name.

Weber, who is California's first African-American clerk and took office on Jan. 29, 2021 after replacing now-Senator Alex Padilla, said the election could cost about US$400 million, an "extremely expensive" price tag for an election that only needs to collect the number of signatures equivalent to 12% of the electorate to be called.

Other states authorize recalls based on at least 30% of those voters and there are several where this option does not exist, but since 1913 in California there have already been 55 attempts to recall the governor, the only successful one being in 2003, when 55.4% of the vote went in favor of recalling Gray Davis, who was replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"After the election I plan to get a bipartisan group of people together to look at our impeachment and recall process and see whether or not we need to continue down this path," Weber added. "The margin (of the electorate to call for recall) is too low."

On the idea that the Republican Party is promoting recalls in a blue state where it can't win statewide elections, and these may be a more expeditious path to power rather than two years of campaigning, the secretary said, "That may be true and that may be why we're seeing a number of recalls in the state while other states are moving forward with voter suppression legislation."

Weber said he has asked his staff for a list of recalls that have been progressing to more local levels such as county supervisors, city councils and school boards.

The daughter of sharecropping parents in Hope, Arkansas, during the Jim Crow segregationist era, whose family moved to California when she was three years old, Weber shared that her parents never had the opportunity to register to vote while living in Arkansas, and that her grandparents passed away before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"Voting is extremely important to me and extremely important to the communities I serve," Weber said. "We're in a critical period where people are voting in large numbers and, as a result of that, there's also an effort to suppress those numbers."

"A recall election is very important because you can potentially remove a disdainful person from office, not just elect a person to office," added Weber who invited Californians to check if they are registered to vote at voterstatus.SOS.ca.gov, or if they are eligible to do so to do so virtually before Aug. 30 to receive their ballot in the mail.

He also indicated that his office has dedicated a budget of $17 million to disseminate election information about these elections.

On the ballot will be two questions: Do you want to recall Governor Gavin Newsom? And who should he be replaced by?

Weber explained that if 50% plus one says yes, then the answer to the second question "becomes relevant." Of the 46 candidates to replace Newsom, whoever gets a simple majority of the votes will win, even if it's just 20%. If the people say they don't want to get rid of government, it doesn't matter who gets the most votes to replace him.

"Still all voters should answer the second question, because even if you don't want to recall (Newsom) you still want to have your say on who becomes governor."

Key dates

August 16: Counties will begin mailing ballots to the homes of registered voters.

Aug. 24: The secretary of state will publish the information guide with all the details of the election and competing candidates.

August 30: Last day for voters to easily register online and receive a ballot in the mail.

August 31-September 14: In-person registration at polling places and drop boxes set up by local voter registrars.

Sept. 7: Last day for counties to send in vote-by-mail ballots
September 14: Election Day. Polling places are open from 7 am to 8 pm.

September 16 to October 14: counting of ballots.

22 October: official date on which the election results are known.

Voters can track their vote-by-mail ballot through the portal: Where is my ballot

Angel Garcia, 16, is stressed about the implications of COVID-19 and how it may affect his health and future. Lauren Fitzgerald, a high school student, worries about the reforms she believes are needed in our country's justice system. 

With Congresswoman Jackie Speier's new Youth Advisory Board (YAB), young people in the 14th Congressional District will now have the opportunity to weigh in on their concerns.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier is accepting applications for district high school youth to run for the board, which will allow students to meet with each other to discuss issues and brainstorm how they can be addressed.

"I want to listen to the young people in my district and be in touch with their concerns and, as much as possible, create opportunities for them to participate in the legislative process," said Rep. Speier.

Speier has long been an advocate for youth engagement. By attending programs and events and meeting with young people, he has told them that they are the generation that must address issues like climate change and ensure that people have access to the vote. 

Through this new program, Speier hopes that more young people will be able to participate in the legislative process and influence the outcome of the many issues that affect us today. She said, "This will be a productive forum to exchange ideas and solutions. 

The board will meet once a month, from October through May, for a total of six meetings to which youth in San Mateo County are being encouraged to apply. Applications are available at web site and must be submitted by August 30.

For Fitzgerald, she has important opinions on key issues and would like to share.  

"I am very interested in bringing immediate reforms to the criminal justice system. It's time for a system that brings restorative justice to victims. "said Fitzgerald. 

Through the YAB, it is hoped that youth like Garcia and Fitzgerald can have their concerns addressed, creating a positive and empowering forum for discussion, action and the pursuit of change among the teens on the Youth Advisory Board and Congresswoman Speier. 

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According to the 2020 Census, racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S. has increased and changed in recent years, signifying the need for an equitable and fair redistricting where all residents feel represented.  

Today we have the opportunity to have new data that allows the redrawing of the maps to be a breakthrough for social justice. 

"American democracy is based on the principle that all people receive equal representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, in their state legislature and in local government, things like city council, county commission and school boards," said Yurij Rudensky, a redistricting attorney in the Brennan Center's Democracy Program.

During a briefing with the media organized by Ethnic Media ServicesIn his opinion, the specialist explained that district boundaries have to be adjusted periodically to comply with this principle of equal representation. 

"The census provides the population data and geographic elements for this periodic redistribution of political power, so it takes place every 10 years immediately following the release of the census results. In other words, over the next two months, political boundaries at the national, state and local levels will be redrawn."

And that is because the redistricting process exists to take into account the different ways in which the population has changed. 

"This not only means that the district should have the same number of people, but ideally the districts should also be adjusted to reflect the demographic changes that have occurred. So that the increasingly diverse nation, and the growing African-American, Latino, Asian and Native communities that have historically suffered discrimination and are protected by the Voting Rights Act, have an equal opportunity to elect their candidates."

Unfortunately, in most states redistricting is a very political and partisan process, Rudensky said.

"When a political party controls the process, it can abuse and ignore the public interest to manufacture political outcomes". This gives rise to what is known in English as gerrymandering, a common term for these redistricting abuses. 

"It's what happens when politicians ignore the public interest and changes in the population ... to manufacture political outcomes without any consideration," he said. "The goal of the gerrymandering is to secure an electoral advantage for a party or a set of current political or policy interests, so that they cannot be eliminated".

Also an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, he stressed that the goal of gerrymandering is to take away meaningful choice from voters, which undermines the system of government that was supposed to be a reflection of the people. 

He further explained that there are three factors that increase the risk of gerrymanderingThe first is whether one party controls the process and the state government; the second is whether the state is closely divided politically or is a rapidly evolving state politically; and the third is whether the demographics of the state are changing. "When all three of these factors are present, the risk is incredibly high."

In view of this, and in order to prevent the gerrymandering moving forward, it would be best to relinquish control over redistricting to an independent commission, where the map-drawers do not have the same political motivations as incumbent politicians. Such is the case in the states of California, Colorado, Michigan and Arizona.

"The idea with independent commissions is that they are more oriented toward identifying and serving public interests and interacting with the public through hearings, rather than producing certain electoral and political outcomes."

Diversity, the face of America.

Mark Hugo Lopez, director of research on race and ethnicity at Pew Research Center, noted that after some of the 2020 Census results were released last week, it is imminent that the nation continues to become more diverse.

The Census Bureau reported that white Americans, non-Hispanic, single-race white Americans make up 58 percent of the nation's population. "That's the lowest proportion we've seen for non-Hispanic whites in the United States, who have had a decline of 5 million."

However, with more than 200 million people, it remains the nation's largest racial or ethnic group overall.

He added that the Latino and Asian populations now account for three-quarters of the population growth.

The Hispanic population has grown to nearly 62 million people, and Latinos now make up 19 percent of the nation's total population, an increase of 23 percent over the past 10 years.

In addition, the African-American population now represents 12 percent of the population, the Asian community 6 percent, and Native Americans make up 1 percent of the more than 330 million people in the United States.

In terms of age, the expert highlighted that the number of older adults in the country also grew, and now reaches 20 million.

Lopez noted that 32 states had population growth, however, Washington D.C., Idaho and Utah reported the greatest growth of Caucasians.

On the other hand, he said, in many parts of the country, especially in the heartland, in states like Minnesota, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, people have two or more races, so there is a real change and diversity happening.

"In many places, Hispanics or non-Latino Caucasians are the second largest group in states. Yet, interestingly, in many parts of the country people of two or more races are the second largest racial or ethnic group."

In that sense, 34 million Americans said they belong to more than one race, 9 million more than in 2010.

The 2020 Census also showed that the population has shifted significantly to urban areas, after rural areas have seen a considerable decline in the number of their residents.

Time to take action in the face of an endangered democracy

Interim Vice President of Government Affairs for the Leadership Conference Education Fund Jesselyn McCurdy said nothing is more fundamental than freedom and the right to vote, but right now democracy is in jeopardy.

"Nothing is more fundamental to American democracy than freedom and the right to vote. But right now our democracy is in danger and if we don't take immediate and direct action we will lose it."

The measures, he said, will be to fully protect against racial discrimination at the polls and to ensure that every voice and every vote counts, which is why he said Congress must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the People's Bill.

"We filed a series of commissioned reports in 10 states, with more to come, that demonstrate to Congress that it is imperative and urgent to restore the Voting Rights Act, individually and collectively."

These reports, he said, reveal racial discrimination at the polls, where mainly African-American voters and voters of color have been blocked, so they hope that lawmakers will update the Voting Rights Act to respond to what is happening in the country and to the diversity of the U.S. population.

"We also continue to press Congress to pass the People Act, which will create national standards that protect our freedom to vote. It is being acted on in the Senate as a compromise bill," he stressed. "We look forward to action on that bill in the Senate in September, regardless of our race or zip code. We all value voting freedom and believe that all Americans should have a voice in key decisions that affect our lives."

You may be interested in: San Mateo Redistricting Advisory Commission Ready