California’s Recall Is a Terrible Mess

Jonathan Bernstein: “To begin with, the election is structured badly. Californians are first asked whether to retain or remove Newsom, and then are given a plurality ballot of candidates to replace him, which only matters if the incumbent is in fact removed. Single-shot plurality elections with no party nominations are just a mess, and tend toward large candidate fields and almost random results; name recognition and factional candidacies are rewarded at the expense of almost everything else.”

“Whatever the merits of recalls, this is simply a terrible way to replace a removed governor.”