James P. Pinkerton 9 May 2020
On May 8, web-surfing readers faced two very different accounts of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to shift his state to vote-by-mail for the coming November elections.
The Los Angeles Times headline read, “California voters asked to vote by mail in November due to coronavirus fears.â€
That same day, the headline atop Breitbart News read, “California: Gavin Newsom Orders Cheat-by-Mail for November Election.â€
Both articles agreed on this much: California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has ordered that ballots be mailed to the state’s 20.6 million voters for the November election, even as he is restricting voting in person. In other words, the goal of Newsom, a Democrat, is to make it harder to vote in person; instead, he wants Californians to vote-by-mail (VBM).
Beyond that, the two articles diverged: The Times was cheery about the VBM development. It quoted California’s secretary of state, Alex Padilla, the state’s chief elections officer, saying of Newsom’s decision, “It’s great for public health, it’s great for voting rights, it’s gonna be great for participation.â€
By contrast, Breitbart News quoted Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Trump campaign, saying, “This is a thinly veiled political tactic by Gov. Newsom to undermine election security … a wide-open opportunity for fraud. California has a bad record on ensuring that people on the voting rolls still live at the same address, still reside in California, or are even still alive.†(In fact, Breitbart News has published scores of articles on “cheat by mail.â€)
Okay, it’s clear: Just as readers faced a stark choice on what to read on May 8, so California voters will face a stark situation this November, when traditional voting will be utterly transformed.
And of course, voting won’t just be changed in California—voting is being transformed in many states.
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https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2020/05/09/pinkerton-california-to-mail-out-21-million-ballots-what-could-go-wrong/