The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, launched this Monday a harsh warning: the state authorities will pursue with felony charges any person who tries to alter the electoral process or manipulate ballots during the midterm elections taking place this Tuesday in the United States.
Through a video released on social media, Newsom directly pointed to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whom he accuses of resorting to "lies" about a supposed nonexistent massive electoral fraud with the aim of paving the way and denouncing a steal in the 'midterms'.
The message was made public a few minutes after the Supreme Court rejected the urgent request of the Department of Justice to halt the counting of 20,000 votes in the state. In that recording, the governor maintains that the White House's accusations about the vote of "non-citizens" are part of a tactic designed "for months" to legitimize a possible unfavorable result.
"If they interfere with our voters, they will be prosecuted for a felony. If they manipulate our ballots, they will face justice. It does not matter who gave the order," the Democratic leader emphasized, who also recalled that "the president cannot pardon before the justice of California" thanks to the legislation recently approved in the state.
Along these lines, Newsom criticized the criminal subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice against local election workers, which he described as an intimidation maneuver. In addition, he explained that the state Government has put into place a package of thirteen voter protection regulations, an allocation of 40 million dollars (35.8 million euros) to speed up the count, and a deployment of 135 lawyers and more than 1,000 volunteers tasked with supervising the polling centers.
The governor's statement comes after the High Court rejected this Monday the federal Executive's request to separate the ballots of some 20,000 voters, thus supporting the rulings of the lower courts, which had considered the Government's verification system erroneous and confirming that California will proceed to recount all the votes as normal.