If California Has Nothing to Hide, Open the Voter Rolls
Governor Newsom has prioritize being a “troll” to the President over allowing a common-sense review of the voter-rolls by the federal government. Which is totally lame.
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If California Has Nothing to Hide, Open the Voter Rolls
Last weekend, following President Trump’s nationally televised speech on election integrity, the California Post published my latest column examining the growing fight over California’s voter rolls — and why Gov. Gavin Newsom has an opportunity to answer questions about election integrity with something more convincing than political rhetoric.
President Trump says the Department of Homeland Security has identified hundreds of thousands of noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections, specifically naming California among four states.
Newsom says Trump is wrong.
Fine. Then there ought to be a straightforward way to help settle the question.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli is calling for California to open its voter rolls to a federal audit. And recent cases involving questionable voter registrations — including investigations in Los Angeles and an Orange County woman who actually registered her dog and cast a ballot in its name — make the debate more than theoretical.
None of that, by itself, proves widespread voter fraud.
But it does raise a larger question: Why should Californians simply be told that everything is fine when an independent review could provide actual answers?
In my full California Post column, I look at the disconnect between demanding public confidence in elections and resisting the kind of scrutiny that could strengthen it.
If Newsom is right, an audit could help prove it.
If there are problems, Californians deserve to know.
Either way, trust is not something government can demand from the public.
It has to be earned.
