# What would happen if? \[California recall election question\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393 "2003-09-29T00:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/5f8ce5/32.png) [@zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zipper)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393/1 "2003-09-29T00:08:21Z")
In this crazy recall election in California you get to vote for two people for the same job. Think about it you can vote no on recall: you are voting for Grey Davis, and you can vote for another candidate too. Now picture this what would happen if Grey Davis won by 51% enough to keep is job as Governor, but some other candidate got lets say 60% or more what would happen? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393/2 "2003-09-29T00:43:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zipper \* > \*\*…Now picture this what would happen if Grey Davis won by 51% enough to keep is job as Governor, but some other candidate got lets say 60% or more what would happen? \*\* If 51% of the people vote ‘No’ on the recall itself, then it doesn’t matter how many people vote for what candidate; The recall doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393/3 "2003-09-29T00:55:42Z")
**Moderators’ Note:** Edited thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Chicago\_Faucet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chicago_faucet/32/13910_2.png) [@Chicago\_Faucet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicago_Faucet)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393/4 "2003-09-29T01:02:19Z")
This is the same mathematics behind the electoral college. It ensures that a candidate cannot lose 49 of the 50 states, but landslide in California, for example, and still win the presidency. Zipper, I see your point. To take it to an extreme, what if Davis got 51 percent, just enough to keep his governorship, but Schwarzeneger (sp?) got 99 percent of the second vote? True, the recall would never happen, but the candidate that has the most goodwill votes will not win. If enough California voters get coldfeet and vote for Davis, but have high confidence in Schwarzeneger, Davis would still win. It’s too late, and it seems that the statute detailing the recall process wasn’t hashed out far enough, but in this example California would benefit using an electoral colleges based on the counties. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-california-recall-election-question/204393/5 "2003-09-29T04:21:45Z")
It’s a simple artifact of not wanting to have 2 seperate elections. If vote for a new governor were not held until 2 days after the recall, and if Davis got 51% of the vote, we’d never know about the votes for the other candidates. Would that make you feel better?