San Francisco Chronicle: Davis Seeks Recall Delay

[Jack Rabbit]

From the San Francisco Chronicle
Dated Monday August 4

Davis seeks delay in voting
Governor wants his name listed on recall ballot
By Carla Marinucci and Harriet Chiang, Chronicle Staff Writers

Arguing that October's recall election would result in chaos, Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and his supporters say they will ask the California Supreme Court today to delay the vote until the March 2004 primary and also place Davis' name on the ballot.
In a petition expected to be filed with the California Supreme Court, Davis will argue that there is no way that the state -- and its cash-strapped counties -- can set up a fair election by Oct. 7. He says the tight schedule between now and then will disenfranchise millions of voters, in violation of election laws.
Davis will be joined in the lawsuit by five other Democrats -- Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo; Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles; West Covina Councilman Ben Wong; Latino business leader Jorge Corralejo and African American community leader Danny Bake- well Sr.
The suit will be filed against Democratic Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and the Los Angeles County registrar, Connie McCormack.

Read more.
Frankly, I doubt this will work. It's a delaying tactic.
The state constitution is clear that a recall target cannot be a candidate to replace himself. It's hard to see where Davis would have a case.

[private_ryan]

1. why is it that hard?

why shouldn't he run again if he's recalled?

[Ediacara]

2. the constitution says he can't

[lazarus]

3. actually

There's a big question as to what the Constitution says about all of this. Apparently, the recall statutes that exist are for offices that don't have backups, like representative or senator. Since the Governor does indeed have a backup, why shouldn't he be the one to take over if a recall goes ahead?

It's a lot more complicated than I originally thought. I found out a lot of bizarre stuff tonight that I'm still digesting. I'll try to remember to post more on this tomorrow.

[joshcryer]

10. Wow, I didn't think about it that way.

Wow, how bizzare.

[workersunite]

4. Bad idea.

Makes us look like we are all about sour grapes. Davis has no one to blame but himself. I'm surprised ANYONE would want to be gov of CA at this point in time.

[Democat]

6. You are 100% wrong

Davis has no one to blame but himself? What a joke of a statement.

How about Bush destroying the economy, Enron ripping off the state with Bush's help, the crooked right wing rich fanatic who funded the recall by paying $1 per signature, the 100 year old law that allowed for recalls with a tiny percentage of the voters and no reason, and the activist right wing media in California?

That's just off the top of my head.

Davis has every right to use the legal system if the right wingers do. Why shouldn't he fight fire with fire and try to make sure the voters get screwed as little as possible by the crooks on the right who are trying to steal the office from the legally elected governor??

There is a lot of Davis bashing on DU by low post users lately.

[Mountainman]

15. I agree, It is the wing nut game plan to screw things up then blame Davis

The only reason Davis has such low numbers is because the talk shows bash him 20/7. You can turn on any local talk show host and here him/her blaming Davis for the budget dificit, then go one and praise Bush for the very same thing. One is on the State level and the other is on the Federal level.

Wing nuts always use lies to get into power. The idiots that listen to the conservative talk hosts and come here and repeat the garbage don't have the ability to think for themselves.

[dansolo]

22. Don't forget Cheney's role

Dick Cheney and Ken Lay had more to do with screwing up California's economy than Davis.

[neuvocat]

17. Don't speak for "us".

California is not the only state in this situation. The problem isn't Davis, its Bush, like it or not.

[imhotep]

5. he should just resign

before it turns into a circus.

[Democat]

7. The right wingers turned it into a circus and Davis must not resign

If Davis were to resign, the recall would not be stopped, so give up on that idea right now.

Davis is probably the strongest fighting Democrat in California. If he's going to go down, he's going to do damage to the right wingers on the way out. That's the way that all Democrats should be. The right wingers started this fight, and Davis isn't going to let them out of it without paying for it in one way or another.

Davis, for all his faults, is a fighting Democrat. He is not unlike Bill Clinton in his willingness to take on fights and he wins more often than not.

[FredScuttle]

8. Amen, brother

Gray Davis may not be the second coming of FDR as far as effective leadership goes, but Democrats in California have to draw the line on this ridiculous attempt by Banana Republicans to overturn an election THAT'S NOT EVEN A YEAR OLD. This recall of Davis would be based, not on any malfeasance or abuse of office on Davis' part, but rather on his low popularity among voters and manipulations (some legal, others questionable at best)of the system by GOP thugs looking to regain the governer's seat at any cost.

If this recall results in removing Davis from office, it sets a disgusting precedent that the will of the voters means jack shit if you have a million dollars and thousands of like-minded sheep who will believe any propaganda you spew.

I wish that Di Fi and the other CA Dems waffling on whether to support Davis would get it into their heads that this recall is bigger than Gray Davis....this is an assault on our electoral process and the future of Democratic governors to serve office effectively.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Related article

Future of Gray Davis could be decided by California Supreme Court

Monday August 04, 2003

By DAVID KRAVETS
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The outcome of California's anything-goes recall effort could be determined by the state's highest court, where Gov. Gray Davis added his own complaints Monday to a docket already crowded with legal challenges to the election.

Legal experts said the governor's case is among the strongest of the five challenges pending before the California Supreme Court, since it addresses fundamental voting-rights issues.

Invoking the specter of a Florida-style polling debacle, the governor's lawyers claimed voters will be disenfranchised because counties do not have enough money or time to properly prepare for the Oct. 7 election.

They also want the court to allow Davis to add his own name to the list of replacements on the recall ballot a list that appears to be growing daily. About 300 gubernatorial wannabes have taken out papers in advance of Saturday's official filing deadline.

California election law specifically bars the subject of a recall from appearing as a replacement candidate, but the governor's lawyers say keeping his name off the list would violate the equal-protection rights of people who vote for Davis. (snip/...)

http://cbsnewyork.com/national/Recall-Court-aa/resources_news_html

[Richardo]

11. Damn. I read "San Francisco Chronicle: Davis Seeks *to* Recall Delay"

$#!+... :evilgrin:

[slackmaster]

12. Ridiculous desperation move

Davis can and should fight the recall, but this is not the way to do it.

[qb]

13. The main reasoning behind the delay is sound.

It mentions the fact that many voters would be disenfranchised because precincts do not have enough time to prepare. I think this is more important than the "Davis on the ballot" issue.

[Democat]

16. Desperation is starting a recall a few months after an election

Gray Davis is going to teach right wingers a lesson in how some Democrats are willing to fight fire with fire. The right wingers started this so Davis will and should use every legal means to fight this and to punish those who are trying to overthrow the will of the people of California.

To say that Davis shouldn't use the legal system to fight something that was brought by people abusing the legal system is ridiculous.

Davis is going to fight these crooks with all of his resources, just like all Democrats should be doing all the time.

[slackmaster]

18. If a majority of voters want to keep Davis in office...

...then he has nothing to worry about and any efforts to fight the recall are a waste of time and resources.

[Democat]

19. A majority of voters? Not quite!

Read the information on the Davis legal action. He is trying to make sure that the majority has the right to decide.

The recall was triggered by a tiny fraction of the people who voted in the last real election. Davis can get 49% of the vote in the recall and still lose to someone who gets 10% of the vote, because of the way it is set up.

The Republicans are planning to try to stop people from voting and some counties have already announced that they will have very limited voting places open.

The majority of Californians who vote, voted to keep Davis in a real election less than a year ago. This recall has nothing to do with a majority, it has to do with some crooks exploiting a 100 year old law that has some serious questions about it.

Davis is fighting not just for himself, but for the rights of all Californians who voted in the last election and who may want to have a say in who their governor is.

Davis is on the right side of this fight no matter how you look at it. The Republicans are trying to overturn an election, again.

[The Sushi Bandit]

14. The state constitution says the Lt. Gov. should take over...

..if the standing gov. cant perform his duties, i.e. death, illness, & impeachment are implied by its wording.

Why complicate it all... if Davis is re-called then Lieutenant Governor CRUZ M. BUSTAMANTE should be our next Governor!

http://www.ltg.ca.gov/
CRUZ M. BUSTAMANTE

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. I agree and so does a San Diego lawyer who filed an argument this week

[demgrrrll]

21. I wonder if this announcement was made before or after his meeting

with the big dog. He met with Bill and I think they discussed the recall. If I had a link I would provide it I can't remember where I read about the meeting.

[Sushi Bandit]

23. Is there any web links so we can read the filing?