Newsom is worried about what comes after Election Day as US braces for late results

Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent months preparing for Election Day in California — steering state funding to the Secretary of State’s office, sending every registered voter a mail-in ballot during the coronavirus pandemic and encouraging them to vote early.

But now, in the final stretch, he said he’s less concerned about what happens Tuesday than what happens afterward.

“I worry more about what happens Wednesday,” Newsom told The Sacramento Bee during a visit to campaign for former Vice President Joe Biden in Reno on Sunday. “I’m worried about people not trusting the outcome. I’m worried about the outcome being politicized.”

In particular, Newsom says he’s concerned about post-election misinformation campaigns, from both foreign and domestic actors, that could cause people to doubt the results.

Current and former U.S. officials have been warning that Russians plan to continue working to undermine American politics after the election, Bloomberg reported over the weekend, especially if the results are close.

In the meantime, Republican President Donald Trump has been saying that the presidential race should be called election night, even though record numbers of early and mail ballots mean vote counting won’t be completed for many days after polls close.

Democratic presidential nominee Biden and his staff are arguing that Trump may falsely try to claim victory on election night.

Because votes are counted differently in every state, early returns could show leads for either candidate that fade as more votes are counted, what experts are calling a “red mirage,” or “blue mirage.”

Disinformation campaigns and hacking attempts are still a threat in the leadup to Election Day. Newsom said he thinks California is prepared, but warned that some counties could be more vulnerable to interference than others, depending on how well prepared they are and how secure their voting equipment is.

In preparation for the election, Newsom said he read the part of the Mueller report on Russian interference in 2016. The investigation led to multiple indictments against Russian agents whom prosecutors allege tried to wage “information warfare” against the U.S. by sowing distrust about political candidates and the election system using social media.

Newsom is worried that will happen again.

“I worry about seeds of doubt that could be sown by people that want to take advantage of this moment and have in the past,” he said. “I worry about our divided country becoming more divided after the election.”