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The polls have already closed at 8 pm in California , in a special election to decide whether Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom remains in office or will be removed in a recall election . First results expected soon.
If the majority of voters vote “yes” to impeachment, Newsom will be out of office and the one with the highest votes on the second question of the ballot, on who should replace Newsom, will assume the governorship of California for a short term.
The effort for overthrowing Newsom, who was elected in 2018, was launched last year by conservative Californians who criticized the governor’s record on multiple issues. The effort gained steam after criticism of Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Voting ended after a day without incident but marred by unsubstantiated accusations of electoral fraud by conservative candidates and the former US president himself Donald Trump .
The atypical elections this Tuesday in one of the more liberal states of the United States ended with a normal participation for this class of calls, which in the afternoon pointed to more than 44% of more than 18. 3 million eligible voters.
The Los Angeles Times is tracking a live result of the vote count for the recall election which can be seen here:
Voting began almost a month ago by mail and ended this Tuesday with voters who attended vote in person, following calls from Governor Newsom and from the conservative candidates who oppose him such as radio host Larry Elder , who Without grounds, he denounced a possible fraud.
Accusations that were taken up by former President Trump, who today said in a statement that the elections in California “are totally rigged ”
Until the last hours, the Democratic machinery and activists that defend Newsom also encouraged voters to go to leave the ballot in the mailboxes. or to vote in person.
Since the presidential elections of 2020, in California all registered voters receive a ballot to vote by mail in elections, a alen measure Tada by Newsom himself as part of the measures to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the state .
Surveys showed a significant advantage for Governor Newsom , with 57% of Californians against impeachment and 41, 5% in favor of the measure, according to the weighted average produced by the specialized website FiveThirtyEight.