Document text
Editoral: State election should focus on educating The (Eugene) Register-Guard: Eleven judges drawn at random from the 26 eligible members of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Tuesday that California's gubernatorial recall election should go forward as planned. The ruling means that California's political chaos can end on Oct. 7 rather than being prolonged until next March. It also means that six California counties will need to take special steps to ensure that their voters' outdated punch-card ballots will be accurately counted. A three-judge panel of the appeals court put the Oct. 7 special election on hold last week, finding that a fair result could not be guaranteed if 44 percent of California's voters used punch-card ballots. The larger panel of the first three judges' colleagues placed appropriate weight on the public's interest in resolving political controversies, and further cautioned that "a federal court cannot lightly interfere with or enjoin a state election." Californians made a bad choice when they launched the recall of Gov. Gray Davis. Even U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who financed the recall petition drive with $1.6 million of his own money, is having second thoughts - he says that unless one of the leading Republicans withdraws from the race, he'll recommend a vote to keep Davis in office. The right to make bad decisions, however, is fundamental to democracy. After the constitutionally required number of voters signed petitions saying they want a recall election, the government's duty is to see that they get one. The American Civil Liberties Union, which sued to delay the recall on behalf of several civil rights groups, says it will not appeal Tuesday's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. That's a rational position - the top court rarely reverses unanimous appeals court rulings. Yet in the absence of an appeal, the nation is left with apparently conflicting rulings in two high-profile cases involving elections. The smaller appeals court panel relied heavily on the Supreme Court's 2000 ruling in Bush vs. Gore when it blocked the California recall vote. In Bush vs. Gore, the court held that a recount of Florida's presidential votes did not meet "the minimum requirement for nonarbitrary treatment of voters." Now, in the California case, the appeals court has said that Florida-style punch-card voting systems, whose deficiencies are so well-known that they are being replaced nationwide, can legally be used. That conflict will have to be resolved one day. For now, however, the public's interest lies in settling Davis' fate and, if he is recalled, choosing a new governor from the 135 candidates seeking to replace him. The six California counties that have yet to upgrade their voting systems have used punch-cards in past elections, including the one that Davis won last year. Those counties have an obligation to do whatever they can to reduce the error rate in the Oct. 7 election, starting with a clear set of instructions to voters. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -