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Ninth Circuit Delays California Recall

By Jeralyn, Section Elections
Posted on Mon Sep 15, 2003 at 10:28:14 AM EST
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Update: Why the recall decision is correct.

Just off the wires:

A federal appeals court postponed California's Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, ruling the historic vote cannot proceed as scheduled because some votes would be cast using outmoded punch-card ballot machines. [link via Atrios]

Here's more from the San Francisco Chronicle:

a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday it is unacceptable that six counties would be using outdated punch-card ballots, the type that sparked the "hanging chads" litigation in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

The appellate panel agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the voting machines were prone to error and that Davis' fate could be decided later. By that time, the counties have promised to replace their punch-card machines under a court order in separate litigation.

The counties include the state's most populous region, Los Angeles, in addition to Mendocino, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara and Solano. They represented 44 percent of the state's registered voters during the 2000 election.

You can read the 66 page opinion here.

Update: As always, Howard Bashman of How Appealing has the bottom line on the decision:

What's the bottom line? If today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit postponing California's recall election withstands scrutiny from the U.S. Supreme Court, the recall election will occur on March 2, 2004 instead of on October 7, 2003 as currently scheduled. And because the Ninth Circuit's ruling entirely cancels the October 7th election, the two propositions also scheduled to have been voted on then would not be voted on until March 2, 2004.

The parties that lost today before a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel could also ask the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case before an eleven-judge panel, but obtaining a rehearing en banc would require the affirmative vote of a majority of all non-recused active judges currently serving on the Ninth Circuit. I just don't see the existence of sufficient votes in favor of rehearing en banc, although it would be interesting to read any dissents that issued from an order that denied rehearing en banc.

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