This is a followup to “Stealing Elections – Part 3.” It describes some of the events leading up to the CA GOP mistreatment of Dr. Joseph Grcar, delegate and candidate for CA GOP Treasurer.

Yvette Corkrean was a candidate for Regional Vice Chair of the Bay Area. Bay Area delegates gathered for a vote 9:00 am Saturday morning. Over 100 delegates showed up to vote, about 30 more than they anticipated (mostly MAGA). Photo ID and delegate badges were needed to vote on paper ballots. Before the vote, one delegate from Alameda County noted that someone unbeknownst to him appointed two (2) of his delegates. The new Chair of the Alameda GOP said that five (5) of his delegate appointments were stolen by the previous Chair he defeated in January.

Shawn Steele of the RNC, the temporary Chair of the meeting, claimed he was powerless to do anything about it. The crowd objected vociferously. He conducted a voice vote to determine whether to proceed with the vote. It was too close to call, so they agreed to eliminate 2 of the 7 dubious delegates from LA. (Those two should never have been allowed to vote in the Bay Area region in the first place!) Another voice vote to proceed with the vote occurred, and again it was too close to call. They then agreed to defer the issue to the Rules Committee at 4:00 pm later that day if the vote margin was within five (5) votes. A standup vote to proceed was called, even though 30 people in back were already standing because there weren’t enough chairs. The vote to proceed with the vote to elect the Vice Chair passed. Jason Clarke prevailed 61-57, a margin of only four (4) votes. Since the margin was less than 5 votes, the matter would be referred to the Rules Committee at 4:00 pm. (What they should have done was specifically state there was evidence of improper delegate appointments that the Rules Committee had to address, but they didn’t.)

Bryan Watkins, COO of the CA GOP, declared Jason Clarke the winner of that vote hours before the Rules Committee met.

At the Rules Committee, David Chan stated the specific CA GOP Bylaw that was broken, which was that the elected Chair appoints the delegates for his term and that the CA GOP improperly approved the appointments from previous Chair Hugh Bussell.

The Rules Committee acted quickly to claim they were powerless to address the issue and began to point fingers. 1) It wasn’t on their agenda, and 2) It’s a matter for the Proxies & Delegates Committee meeting later at 5:00 pm. The Rules Committee refused to act. What they should have done was to acknowledge that a Bylaw was broken, admit that their staff made a mistake, then defer the issue to the Proxies & Delegates Committee for action. But they didn’t.

Are your eyes rolling yet?

The Proxies & Delegates Committee met at 5:00 pm. David Chan again made his case that his delegates were stolen from him in violation of the CA GOP’s own Bylaws. Numerous first-time Delegates noted that failure to correct the error discouraged young conservatives from participating in future conventions. They too acted quickly to do nothing because:

1. Legal counsel declared that the Bylaw only applies in presidential election years (which was ridiculous because central committee elections are in non-presidential election years only)
2. Their Bylaws didn’t have a provision that allows them to remove delegates, and
3. It’s a matter for the county committee to resolve (again, ridiculous because it was a CA GOP Bylaw and a CA GOP staff error)

They could have accepted 5 delegates from David Chan, delegates that would then have gone on to give Yvette Corkrean a 1-vote win. But they they to failed to correct the egregious stealing of the election from Yvette Corkrean. So now we have an illegitimate Vice Chair in Jason Clarke.