Patterico's Pontifications

9/2/2021

Right-Wing Nutters Float Crazy California Recall Ballot Conspiracy, and, Uh, It Turns Out to Have a Solid Kernel of Truth

Filed under: General — JVW @ 9:45 am

[guest post by JVW]

There have been wild voting-fraud concerns floating around the web ever since Breitbart published a post a couple of weeks back claiming that the return envelopes for the Gavin Newsom recall ballot allowed people to ascertain the voter’s Yes or No vote on the recall if the user place their ballot in the envelope in a certain way. Here is the Instagram video that appears to have sparked this whole controversy (sorry, Instagram video embeds don’t appear to work in WordPress):

When I first saw this video my immediate reaction was, “Oh Lord, there they go again spreading these wild baseless theories. I played around with my own ballot, and what I discovered is that if you place your ballot in the envelope in a certain way, a side hole (and why that whole is there is a question beyond my comprehension) does show a filled oval, though the filled oval it shows is actually the “how to mark your ballot” example which shows the user what a correct vote looks like. Here is that picture sequence:

Note the example section on the left of the ballot.

But after playing around with the ballot and envelope a bit more, I found that I was wrong. You can indeed manipulate the ballot within the envelope to ascertain how the voter marked the recall question, if the voter places the ballot in the envelope in a certain way. Note again the picture of my ballot above, and the section containing the Yes or No vote on the recall of Gavin Newsom. If I were to just place my completed ballot in the envelope without giving it any thought, here is how it might look:

You will notice the word “Gavin” peeking through the circular vent (and why this envelope needs such a vent totally escapes me; anyone have any ideas?). If I carefully manipulate the ballot by shifting it within the envelope (the ballot is probably only about 2/3 the size of the envelope), I can actually view how the voter marked the question regarding Governor Newsom’s recall:

I didn’t do such a bang-up job capturing the “No” oval on the left, but with the “Yes” oval in the image to the right you can absolutely ascertain if the oval is filled-in and you can clearly see the “Y” part of the word “yes.”

Now this doesn’t mean that Democrats deliberately designed the ballot and envelope this way (I have been voting by mail for 20 years, and the design for both strikes me as pretty standard), but there clearly has been absolutely zero thought given to the potential for voting chicanery that this mail-in ballot invites, especially in a state where ballot harvesting is, to the annoyance of the best people in our democracy, absolutely legal.

I don’t believe that there exists a large-scale operation designed to toss out ballots which support the recall of the execrable Gavin Newsom any more than I believe there is a large-scale operation designed to toss out ballots which oppose his recall. But a democracy can only thrive if the citizens believe that the people managing and directing the civil service act responsibly and effectively, and the fetid bureaucracy in the Golden State has long since forfeited that faith through its infamous half-assery and corruption. For those of you Californians voting in the recall election, I strongly suggest that you pay close attention to the orientation of your ballot in the envelope before you seal it up and return it.

– JVW

Comments (75)

75 Responses to “Right-Wing Nutters Float Crazy California Recall Ballot Conspiracy, and, Uh, It Turns Out to Have a Solid Kernel of Truth”

Meanwhile, these complaints will almost surely fall upon deaf ears in our one-party state.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2021 @ 9:46 am
only about 2/3 the side of the envelope,

I think you meant to write size, not side JVW.

[Thanks Colonel. Made the change. – JVW]
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:40 am
State Department to relocated Afghans: For God’s sake, don’t move to California

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/09/02/state-department-to-relocated-afghans-for-gods-sake-dont-move-to-california-n413261
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:41 am
For those of you Californians voting in the recall election, I strongly suggest that you pay close attention to the orientation of your ballot in the envelope before you seal it up and return it.

Absolutely!!! And be careful how/where you drop it off.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:44 am
This is an interesting post, JVW. I just played around with my ballot and it doesn’t reveal how I voted because mine only has one circular vent on the envelope. It is located to the right of where my address is typed on the envelope (right above where I sign). So, why does mine only have one circular vent and yours (and apparently others have two)?

Further, I was just reading this report, which claims that more Democrats have voted in the recall election than Republicans so far. But, given that 4/5 of Republicans haven’t yet voted, I don’t think that is necessarily indicative of much (other than Dems are fired up):

With the recall election less than two weeks away, the mail ballot returns so far show that more than twice as many Democrats have voted than Republicans and that liberal areas of the state such as the Bay Area have the highest rates of return, according to state officials and political data researchers.

How do they know this?

The ballot-tracking details in this story are drawn from the secretary of state’s office as well as Mitchell’s firm and L2, two political data companies that analyze state and county election voter information as well as consumer and other data sources to provide analysis of the electorate.

Every registered voter was mailed a ballot because of the pandemic; four-fifths have yet to cast them. While it’s possible to know who has voted, there is no way to know how they voted.

So they’re comparing names on the envelope to names/party affiliation on the voter rolls, I assume. Does it really seem reasonable that they’re wiggling envelopes and peeking at whether yes to the Recall has been checked off? Further, while you and I both live in substantially large counties, I’m curious why the ballot envelopes are different? If they originate at the Secretary of State’s office, then it really doesn’t make sense. But if they originate at each county’s Registrar of Voters, then I could see why they might be different.

Here is the official attempt to refute the claim of this post. They don’t actually refute the claims because they acknowledge that the circular vents are a problem, so I’m not really sure why it’s considered having debunked the myth of the claim:

In response to one Los Angeles voter’s tweet, the county’s Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk noted the holes have been part of the envelope design for years. They allow voters with vision impairments to find where they need to sign, and they also ensure that no ballot is left in its envelope and uncounted.

“It does raise a concern that we need to address, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sign that someone’s trying to steal your vote,” Alexander said.

The envelope holes are one of a number of measures to help those with disabilities, including the Remote Accessible Vote-by-Mail system, which lets people with disabilities vote privately on their computer using whatever audio, visual or other technology they might need.

For me, I don’t think there is any big effort underway to steal votes. It would be more because a Yes on the recall was marked, the ballot might be tossed… Regardless of any potential for shenanigans, for anyone with the two circular-vented envelopes, one’s voting privacy can easily be violated.
Dana (174549) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:44 am
JVW, I just emailed you a screenshot of the Voter Declaration side of my ballot envelope.
Dana (174549) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:47 am
Thanks for the added insight, Dana. It’s interesting that your envelope is so different from mine.

Yeah, I too don’t believe this was intended to lead to a vote-destroying operation by one side or the other, but they poor way in which all of this was designed indicates to me that nobody in the Secretary of State or many of our county registrar offices put a whole lot of thought into any of this.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:54 am
@7 Like most things in government, incompetence rather than malice is the simplest answer.
whembly (867f2f) — 9/2/2021 @ 10:59 am
This looks like a badly designed ballot / envelop combination. Doesn’t seem reasonable to conclude this proves a conspiracy to commit fraud. But I’ve given up on the “Stop the Steal types” letting that slow them down.
Time123 (9f42ee) — 9/2/2021 @ 11:17 am
The pandemic recall

Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking the same weapons Republicans used against him to help qualify the recall election to defend himself from it.

Months ago, Newsom’s opponents used pandemic frustrations to fuel the recall effort, painting him as an authoritarian willing to ruin businesses and shutter schools. Flash forward to today, and Newsom is banking on his stance as the tough-on-Covid candidate to get him out of this mess.
…….
His latest campaign ad comes right out and says it: The recall is “a matter of life and death.” The ad goes on to show medical professionals in hazmat gear intubating a patient.

The message is clear, and for many voters, it’s scary: If Newsom is replaced, the virus, and life as we know it in California, will get worse, not better.
……..
Republican Larry Elder held a Zoom call with reporters this morning where he spoke about plans to repeal vaccine and mask mandates and back a ballot proposition to create education savings accounts for all California students.
……..
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/2/2021 @ 11:20 am
His latest campaign ad comes right out and says it: The recall is “a matter of life and death.” The ad goes on to show medical professionals in hazmat gear intubating a patient.

I’m not surprised he is handling it that way, and he has all of the money to make sure his message gets out. But the contra to his “I’m saving lives” message is that California now has the second highest unemployment rate in the entire nation (and I believe I read that new jobless applications are expected to rise this month) and I saw an item which said that California schoolkids on average missed the most in-class days of any kids in the country, thanks to Newsom and his party’s slavish devotion to teacher’s unions. He’s going to have to own those consequences as well.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2021 @ 11:45 am
Democrats are big employers of fear porn.

It’s what they fall back on when the facts are not on their side… which is usually the case.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 11:49 am
“Democrats are big employers of fear porn.”

With rarely a happy ending
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 9/2/2021 @ 11:54 am
They have a different take on what constitutes a “happy ending” is all.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 12:12 pm
If Republicans really want to knock down Newsom’s “I’m saving lives” claims, they should get vaccinated en masse and then flood social media with admonitions/encouragement to their fellow-party members to do likewise.
Dana (174549) — 9/2/2021 @ 12:19 pm
https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-soros-donations-to-fight-newsom-recall-hit-1-million

George Soros, who funds progressive drives and causes worldwide, donated another $500,000 to a political action committee opposing the campaign to recall California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, bringing his total contributions to $1 million.

Filings with the California Secretary of State’s office show Soros’ latest contribution to a group called “Stop The Republican Recall of Governor Newsom” was made on Monday, August 30. It was his third gift to the PAC thus far, following a pair of $250,000 donations.

He’s definitely made a deal with the Devil.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 9/2/2021 @ 12:46 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlAoL2NPac8

A reminder of how seriously Newsom has taken the Wuhan Lab Virus when it’s come to his personal sacrifices.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 9/2/2021 @ 12:48 pm
Everyone loves a good conspiracy!

Out of curiosity, JVW and Dana, whose county is more conservative?
BuDuh (fdd65e) — 9/2/2021 @ 1:25 pm
He’s definitely made a deal with the Devil.

That $1M is nothing compared to Reed Hastings ($3M, plus more donated to Newsom’s campaign directly) and various public employee unions and trade associations. In fact, that $1M would rank tied for 11th place on this list of donors.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/2/2021 @ 1:41 pm
“Democracy.”

… and Putin smiled.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/2/2021 @ 1:44 pm
His latest interview with a rabbi is demented. How long until the cellar dweller fills his pants on T.V.?
mg (8cbc69) — 9/2/2021 @ 1:46 pm
Newsom has a huge cash advantage in California’s recall vote. It may mean nothing
……
Last week, Newsom’s fundraising haul surpassed the $58m he raised in 2018, when he first ran for governor and won, and that total is on track to hit $70m or more before all is said and done. The pro-recall effort, by contrast, has raised only about $8m, and only three of the 46 candidates to replace Newsom have raised seven figures on their own account.

Larry Elder, the Trump acolyte and firebrand conservative talk show host, has established himself as the frontrunning challenger with a haul of about $6m, and the only Republican to eclipse that total, the businessman and perennial candidate John Cox, is largely writing checks to himself.
…….
On the Democratic side, campaign experts say, special interest groups are writing checks to Newsom largely because the recall provides them with a unique opportunity to do so and because they see only advantages in giving to a Democratic party that controls a supermajority in both houses of the state legislature and, one way or another, is likely to win the next regularly scheduled gubernatorial election in November 2022. While individual contributions in an election are capped at $32,500 per candidate, contributions to a pro- or anti-recall campaign have no legal limits.
……..
Among the biggest donors to the anti-recall effort are Reed Hastings, the Netflix chief executive, who supported one of Newsom’s primary challengers in 2018; the prison guards’ union, which does not give to Democrats exclusively but won a pay raise earlier this year that Newsom championed against the advice of his budget analyst; and the teachers’ union, whose previous support for Newsom became a political liability during the worst of the Covid-19 lockdowns because schools remained shut under union pressure.
……..
On the Republican side, the lack of funding enthusiasm reflects a broader change in the party since the only previous gubernatorial recall in California, in 2003. Back then, the GOP threw its weight wholeheartedly behind the campaign to kick out the then governor, Gray Davis, and replace him with its superstar alternative, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
……..
This time, by contrast, the party played no role in gathering signatures for a recall petition, which was spearheaded by a retired sheriff’s sergeant from the Central Valley who has frequently expressed frustration with the state Republican party’s leadership. The party has also stayed largely out of the race itself, offering less than $200,000 to the recall campaign – a stark contrast to the more than $2m that the California Democratic party has kicked in for Newsom.

“The California Republican party isn’t spending a lot of money on this race because they don’t have a lot of money,” said Schnur.
………
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/2/2021 @ 1:55 pm
The Wanderer

Oh well, he is an older guy who won in DC town
Just pretty girls in his dreams, you won’t catch him with a frown
He’ll kiss ’em and he’ll love ’em, what’s their age? he doesn’t care
He’ll hug ’em and he’ll squeeze ’em, turn ‘em ‘round and sniff their hair
His mind goes wandering
Yeah, just wandering
It wanders around, around, around…

Well Ron Klain is on his left and there’s Jen Psaki on his right
But Dr. Jill’s the girl that he’ll be sleeping with tonight
And when they ask which girl’s the one he loves the best?
He says, dat fat Yamiche, cuz she’s better than the rest
His mind goes wandering
Yeah, just wandering
It wanders around, around, around…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:24 pm
Teh Otter Oughtta Go!!!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:27 pm
Gold Star families blast Biden for checking watch during ceremony for fallen

https://nypost.com/2021/08/31/biden-blasted-by-gold-star-dads-darin-hoover-mark-schmitz-for-checking-watch-during-ceremony/

Pull pin.
Prepare to Joe.
JOE!

=boom=
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:38 pm
Chicanery? Isn’t the current term hispanicery? Or would latinery be more a la mode on the West Coast?
nk (1d9030) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:48 pm
Latineryxity?
urbanleftbehind (6d471f) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:53 pm
> It’s interesting that your envelope is so different from mine.

Designed and printed by each county elections office, rather than statewide.
aphrael (4c4719) — 9/2/2021 @ 2:56 pm
Or would latinery be more a la mode on the West Coast?

Latinxry, these days I believe.

One thing I still like about where I grew up is that the older generation continues to describe themselves as Chicanos and Chicanas, just like they did when I was growing up in the 70s. None of this let’s change the categorization name of our group every few years nonsense.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2021 @ 3:06 pm
“It’s not important how you mark your ballot. What is important is how the Rothschilds’ space lasers have programmed the Dominion machines to read it.” — Sidney Lindell-Paxton
nk (1d9030) — 9/2/2021 @ 3:09 pm
Designed and printed by each county elections office, rather than statewide.

I thought both Dana and I were in Los Angeles County, but I might have missed the boat on that.
JVW (ee64e4) — 9/2/2021 @ 3:55 pm
‘His latest interview with a rabbi is demented. How long until the cellar dweller fills his pants on T.V.?’

Tree of Life synagogue disputes President Biden’s claim that he visited after the mass shooting there

President Biden on Thursday told Jewish leaders that he spent time at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after the October 2018 mass murder of 11 people there — but the synagogue told The Post he never visited.

“I remember spending time at the, you know, going to the, you know, the Tree of Life synagogue, speaking with them,” Biden said in a 16-minute virtual address ahead of the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Barb Feige, executive director of the Tree of Life, said that Biden did not visit the synagogue in the nearly three years since the anti-Semitic attack.” -NY POST

Oy Vey.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/2/2021 @ 4:02 pm
I just marked my recall ballot, put it in the return envelope… don’t see anything visible that shouldn’t be there.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/2/2021 @ 4:14 pm
Californians are by and large a fearful bunch, and are often willing to go along with whatever authoritarian measures the government puts forth.

The Newsom campaign is smart to play upon their fears.
norcal (a6130b) — 9/2/2021 @ 5:38 pm
So they’re comparing names on the envelope to names/party affiliation on the voter rolls, I assume. Does it really seem reasonable that they’re wiggling envelopes and peeking at whether yes to the Recall has been checked off?

There should be no identifying info on the outer envelope. In a state that allows ballot harvesting and has public databases of party affiliation, you don’t really need tricks to disappear ballots.
Kevin M (e4323c) — 9/2/2021 @ 5:41 pm
Decades ago California was the best state in the country, and it wasn’t even close. My father grew up in San Francisco in the 40s. I envy him that.

My oh my. How things have changed.
norcal (a6130b) — 9/2/2021 @ 5:50 pm
I feel sorry for the trees.
nk (1d9030) — 9/2/2021 @ 5:51 pm
@36 what do you think happened to california?

i have a theory, but you’ll just have keep electing democrats to really test it out
JF (e1156d) — 9/2/2021 @ 8:33 pm
@38 For starters, over-regulation, over-taxation, too many layers of government (including the recurring terror known as the propositions), indulging criminals, NIMBYism, environmental extremism, and government capture by public sector unions.

California is an ongoing case study in just how much people will put up with for nice weather and a coastline.
norcal (a6130b) — 9/2/2021 @ 9:40 pm
I’m hoping Pat’s doing ok. Haven’t seen this few posts by him very often.

Also hoping to see his thoughts on SCOTUS handling of Texas abortion law soon.
nate (1f1d55) — 9/2/2021 @ 9:47 pm
Yeah, we want more PAT!
AJ_Liberty (a4ff25) — 9/3/2021 @ 3:38 am
I wonder where Dave the physicist is, too. I hope he’s okay.
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:08 am
USA TODAY “New fact check: A viral photo makes it look like President Biden checked his watch during a ceremony honoring U.S. service members killed in Kabul. But that’s misleading.”

A bit later…..

“Corrections & Clarifications: This story was updated Sept. 2 to note that Biden checked his watch multiple times at the dignified transfer event, including during the ceremony itself. The rating on this claim has been changed from partly false to missing context.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/09/01/fact-check-biden-checked-watch-after-ceremony-dover-air-force-base/5663427001/

At least they tried….
Obudman (676dac) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:25 am
A page out of the previous alleged President’s PR handbook. Take attention away from the real major outrage, the totally buggered bugout, with a manufactured piddling one of him looking at his watch during a casket transfer. I’m not fal … hey, a squirrel!
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:38 am
“hey, a squirrel!”

Calling a National publication’s ‘fact-checker’ getting caught blatantly lying and smearing Gold Star families to throw cover for a senile CIC, only to change it from ‘partly false’ to ‘missing context’ a ‘squirrel’ is a solid take.
Obudman (676dac) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:43 am
Compared to the Cock-p In Kabul that got the 13 soldiers killed in the first place, and made America into a laughingstock, hell, yeah, that’s a squirrel. And that these “fact-checkers” are blatantly on Biden’s side only supports my viewpoint.

But you know what? Never mind the bugout. You write your Congressman and tell him to draft articles of impeachment for the high crime and misdemeanor of looking at one’s watch at a funeral ceremony.
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:54 am
*Cock-up*

BTW, I’m not British, it’s just that it alliterates with Kabul. I would have used another word if it were Fallujah.
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:57 am
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 5:38 am

Take attention away from the real major outrage, the totally buggered bugout, with a manufactured piddling one of him looking at his watch during a casket transfer….a squirrel!

I think it’s the right wing talking point machine which does that. They like to make accusations in which they are alone. They want exclusives

Another one is accusing Biden of having giving arms to the Taliban – which is not what happened. And focusing on their cost, not their lethality oior military value to the Taliban.

The Afghan army couldn’t use many planes – how much less so the |Taliban.

And who knows who the pilots in the |Taliban video were? The Taliban have trained pilots?? (they could have a defector or two or three, or people forced at gunpoint to fly and given promises of being allowed to live.

Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 9/3/2021 @ 6:23 am
I think it’s the right wing talking point machine which does that.

I agree, Sammy. Like I said: “A page out of the previous alleged President’s PR handbook.” But, hey, if the Taliban can use our guns, why can’t the Democrats use the Trumpmuffins’ tactics, eh?

And you’re also right that it provides content for the #FakeNews. But that’s a given. The purpose it serves for the partisans is to distract from a previous and bigger story. In this case, Biden’s Afghanistan fiasco.
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 7:09 am
“Squirrel!”.….heh.

“USA Today claimed Gold Stars families were lying when they said Biden checked his watch several times during the ceremony of their fallen loved ones. They offered a partial retraction: the same fact checkers that Twitter defers to when censoring you over “medical misinformation“
Obudman (676dac) — 9/3/2021 @ 9:40 am
So they made a mistake, admitted it, and publicly corrected it. Mistakes are bad but this is what you do when you make one.

If you don’t like how Twitter does moderation you should consider parlor or getr
Time123 (224669) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:01 am
California is an ongoing case study in just how much people will put up with for nice weather and a coastline.

Darn tootin’. Wouldn’t trade the climate or coast (or the mountains) for the living in a hurricane/tornado/snowstorm zone, like the South, the Midwest, or the East.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:01 am
“So they made a mistake, admitted it, and publicly corrected it.”

They tried to cover Biden by lying, got caught, and instead of saying they printed a lie when they said he didn’t check his watch during the service but had in fact checked it at least three times, they said it was ‘missing context’….IOW the opposite of admitting they lied.

In other news……

New York Times: BREAKING NEWS: Top federal health officials told the White House to scale back a plan to offer coronavirus booster shots to the general public later this month, saying that regulators need more time to collect and review all the necessary data.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/us/coronavirus-booster-shots.html
Obudman (676dac) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:10 am
53… thanks for the due diligence and having enough interest to dig for the truth.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:13 am
I’m in San Luis Obispo county and there are no vent holes in the envelope. No way to see how I voted fortunately, regardless of how ballot is placed within. It appears that the particular county has it’s own format, as my ballot isn’t identical to the example JVW posted. Regardless, thanks JVW for making me look lol, I appreciate your concern and heads up.
Angelo (07e511) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:22 am
Well … seeing as how Trump won the election in a landslide with the brilliant strategy of calling Biden “Sleepy Joe” instead of wasting his time getting every vote he could in the ballot box in the swing states, I suppose I could be wrong and complaints by grieving families and not the abject humiliation of the bugout debacle are the way to go after Biden.
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:31 am
The fact-checker at USA Today is getting dunked on so hard he had to amend his ‘correction’.

But the poor slob still has the original fact-free ‘fact-check’ up.

“sO They MaDE A miSTakE, aDmITTed iT, ANd pUBliCLy COrreCteD It.’

Iowahawk puts it in perspective:

“Custodians and janitors are human (yes, even me!) and sometimes we take a sh## on the gym floor. When we do, and if the security camera catches us, we’ll get right back there to clean it up.”
Obudman (676dac) — 9/3/2021 @ 10:47 am
Alameda county. I have a single hole and cannot, after trying, get it to align with the mark indicatingmy vote on the recall.
aphrael (4c4719) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:06 am
Problem w/Elder is he’s another windbag entertainer-sh!t-shoveller-type. Another Arnold. And the CA legislature runs the state, not the governor. For a party that abhors Hollywood and entertainment types, it sure runs to embrace them. The only way to change CA is to clear out the legislature, county by county.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:07 am
California is an ongoing case study in just how much people will put up with for nice weather and a coastline.

Coastlines? 10 miles inland and you might as well be in Nevada. Droughts, 110 degree heat waves, wildfires galore, $5 gas, $4 milk… and ten cent grocery bags… illegals like locusts… earthquakes. The state sucks.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:10 am
The thing that makes this controversy feel particularly absurd to me is that i’m reasonably certain the ballot envelopes are generic shape/size/physical formatting even if they’re reprinted for each election, and the ballots are generic shape/physical formatting even if they’re reprinted for each election (this is based on the fact that this month i had ballots and envelopes for two different elections in my possession at the same time — the recall and the AD18 special — and the shape and formatting were identical).

So the hole placement in the envelope was decided at a different time, and likely by different people, than the placement of the voting marks on the ballot.
aphrael (4c4719) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:12 am
Coastlines? 10 miles inland and you might as well be in Nevada.

Good thing I live on the coast.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:12 am
> There should be no identifying info on the outer envelope.

machine readable identifying info is extraordinarily helpful for tracking, which increases security.
aphrael (4c4719) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:25 am
in particular, at times like this where there are two elections going on at the same time, identifying info is required to be able to tell ballots for election A from election B.
aphrael (4c4719) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:26 am
As a one-eighth Californian by parentage on my daughter’s maternal great-grandfather’s side, all I can say to any carpetbaggers (and I’m not naming any names) who pine for perpetual fog and cold drizzle, coal fireplaces, and fish for breakfast is: Love it or leave it!
nk (1d9030) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:33 am
Translation for post #59: he’s still black. But maybe Californians wish to he entertained as well.
urbanleftbehind (165768) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:45 am
OT… Sec of State Blinken… just finished watching him… my gosh, no conviction, no resolve that’s apparent… what an empty suit, wrong guy for the times and predicaments Biden has created.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/3/2021 @ 12:20 pm
@67. Shorter: bureaucrat.

There isn’t a hall locker in any high school or a wedgie in any locker room that wouldn’t find home on his face or up his butt.

Even Edward Reilly Stettinius Jr., had more on the ball.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/3/2021 @ 12:26 pm
@57 When you publish a mistake it’s common to leave it up with updates / corrections so that people can see the mistake for themselves. Deleting the mistake and putting up a correct story is less transparent because it obscures the mistake you made.
Time123 (9f42ee) — 9/3/2021 @ 12:28 pm
Translation for post #59: he’s still black. But maybe Californians wish to he entertained as well.

Big difference between Tim ‘Otter’ Matheson, Al Jolson… and Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson.
DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/3/2021 @ 12:31 pm
@57, wanted to add; Biden checking is watch was rude and disrespectful. He shouldn’t have done it. If he didn’t have time to devote to the ceremony he shouldn’t have come at all.
Time123 (9f42ee) — 9/3/2021 @ 12:36 pm
It wouldn’t be stealing the vote, it would be throwing it away, or throwing it into a “find a reason to invalidate pile”.

I also don’t care to have my signature on the outside of the envelope if someone can see how I voted.

Scratch a progessive in my area of the country and you will someone regressing towards authoritarianism and totalitarianism. Right now most of their efforts are on punishing people who won’t vaccinate or won’t wear masks. They have a VERY high opinion of the Democrats that rule over us and think anyone who is not 100% with them is an enemy of the common good, so I could see their focus shifting once COVID hysteria dissapates
steveg (ebe7c1) — 9/3/2021 @ 1:16 pm
I recall that George HW Bush was supposed to have looked at his watch during a presidential debate in 1992 and that was supposed to be a bad thing (even though there are time limits on the length of the debate and on how long he can speak)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBrW2Pz9Iiw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T293aYx3uw0

https://www.wionews.com/world/another-bush-joe-biden-checks-his-wrist-watch-during-us-election-presidential-debate-337358
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 9/3/2021 @ 2:06 pm
It is established that Joe Biden never visited that synagogue, not in 2018, when it happened and not since. In 2020, he released a statement about the murders.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/biden-never-visited-tree-life-after-shooting-white-house-clarifies-presidents-comment/RAKIAY44YBC7HEYPVZFAKJZUIY

President Joe Biden said during a virtual event with leaders in the Jewish community Thursday that he visited the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill following the murder of 11 people during a service in 2018. Synagogue officials responded that he has never visited.

According to the New York Post, Biden made the comments during a 16-minute virtual address ahead of several Jewish holidays.

The synagogue’s executive director told the publication that he has not visited in the nearly three years since the deadly attack.

A White House representative said Biden was referring to a phone call he had with the Tree of Life’s rabbi in 2019.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 9/3/2021 @ 2:12 pm
Problem w/Elder is he’s another windbag entertainer-sh!t-shoveller-type.

DCSCA (f4c5e5) — 9/3/2021 @ 11:07 am

Holy mother of self-unawareness! I’m glad I wasn’t sipping my coffee when I read this.
norcal (a6130b) — 9/3/2021 @ 6:18 pm

9/2/2021

Right-Wing Nutters Float Crazy California Recall Ballot Conspiracy, and, Uh, It Turns Out to Have a Solid Kernel of Truth

75 Responses to “Right-Wing Nutters Float Crazy California Recall Ballot Conspiracy, and, Uh, It Turns Out to Have a Solid Kernel of Truth”

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