Sen. Ted Cruz called out Democrats in California for enforcing the state’s signature verification laws, pointing out that Democrats have said such rules amount to “voter suppression.”
“I thought signature verification was vote suppression?” Cruz said on Twitter. “That’s what Dems told us.”
I thought signature verification was vote suppression?
That’s what Dems told us…. https://t.co/Jab6M3yrMZ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 27, 2021
Cruz’s comments came in reaction to a report that the California secretary of state had rejected nearly 20% of the signatures gathered in the recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom.
But signature verification laws have come under increased scrutiny in recent months, with the American Civil Liberties Union saying such laws “disenfranchise marginalized populations.”
ENOUGH VERIFIED SIGNATURES SUBMITTED TO QUALIFY FOR RECALL OF CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM
“Disenfranchising a voter should not be done lightly,” the ACLU’s website reads. “An official without training in signature or handwriting analysis should not reject a voter’s application or ballot until they notify the voter and give them an opportunity to fix the issue. Without proper notice and opportunity to cure, voters, especially voters with disabilities, elderly voters, trans voters, women voters, ESL voters and military voters, are susceptible to being unfairly excluded from the democratic process.”
The process of verifying signatures in the California recall effort led to over 400,000 of the 2,026,617 signatures gathered being thrown out. Despite that, organizers gathered 1,626,042 valid signatures, well above the threshold of the 1,495,709 required to hold the recall election.
The successful effort to hold a recall election is another blow for the embattled California governor, who has been under constant fire for the state’s heavy-handed approach to COVID-19.
That frustration reached a boiling point when Newsom was caught dining inside with members of multiple households, which was a violation of his own pandemic guidance.
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Some people have already expressed their intent to run against Newsom later this year, including Olympian and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and businessman John Cox.
