Republicans File Big Lawsuit Against CA Gov. Newsom Over Vote-By-Mail Ballots

You’ve heard the left-wing saying, “never let a crisis go to waste,” right? Well, Democrats have been taking full advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and all of the shutdowns across the United States as a means of pressing bits and pieces of their agenda forward that they want to see passed into law.

One big piece of the puzzle that Democrats want badly is to pressure states into doing the presidential election through vote-by-mail. And why wouldn’t they want that? Doing so opens up the ballots to greater risk of manipulation, allowing them to have a fighting chance against President Trump.

Anyway, the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and California Republican Party are suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Alex Padilla over an executive orcer that demands all registered voters in the state receive vote-by-mail ballots. The GOP is calling this an “illegal power grab” and a “recipe for disaster.”

Here’s more from The Daily Wire:

According to Fox News, Newsom’s order would enable inactive voters, including those who have died or moved, to receive vote-by-mail ballots. On May 8, Newsom issued an executive order that said every registered voter would receive a vote-by-mail ballot; Padilla tweeted, “BIG ELECTION NEWS: Every California voter will receive a vote-by-mail ballot for November’s election — and yes, we’ll do our best to maintain safe, in-person voting. This is great for public health, voting rights, and participation in the #2020 election.”

“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,” CBS News reported.

Here’s what the GOP response, via the complaint, had to say:

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. 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 Governor’s Order is invalid and must be enjoined.

Moreover, in his haste, the Governor created a system that will violate eligible citizens’ right to vote. By ordering that vote-by-mail ballots be automatically sent to every registered voter — including inactive voters, voters with invalid registrations, voters who have moved, voters who have died, and voters who don’t want a ballot — he has created a recipe for disaster. No State that regularly conducts statewide all-mail elections automatically mails ballots to inactive voters because it invites fraud, coercion, theft, and otherwise illegitimate voting. Fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Finally, the Governor reserved for himself the sole discretion to choose if and where in-person voting will occur. Such unbridled discretion, which leads to arbitrary and disparate treatment of individual voters, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

No matter how you slice the cheese, doing vote by mail is a disaster waiting to happen. It’s one step toward the complete undermining of the entire election system, effectively stripping the voice and will of the people out of the governmental system. That’s simply something we cannot allow to happen.

This lawsuit is the right course of action. Hopefully, Newsom will change his mind once adequate pressure is applied to his office.