Understood -- still looking for authoritative source for that. A ballot with neither "YES" nor "NO" votes does not represent a voter, for the purposes of Q1. The "non-voted" ballots are not considered in the recall question.
Assuming that's the case, then the "Yes" and "No" advocates have the same risk of overlooking Q1, and neither side of that issue has an inherent advantage or disadvantage based on such oversight.
California code here:
11382. No vote cast in the recall election shall be counted for any candidate unless the voter also voted for or against the recall of the officer sought to be recalled.
So, if you mess up question 1, your vote doesn't count in question 2. You also are not considered part of the 50%+1
By my reading of this, those who today said they forgot to vote on question 1 have lost their candidate choice as well.
Hmm... I think I disagree with your statement that neither side has an inherent advantage. The Grayout fans are there for one reason: to vote NO on #1. They will vote Busta or some other freak as an afterthought, but they are going to search for and find the #1 question.
On the other hand, those debating here whether to vote for Arnie or Tom are most interested in that line, not the #1 question.
As I see it, there is a definite advantage to the true blue demodogs, and a real risk for this to be an important factor.