Recall: “˜Confusing’ punch cards feed election hoopla

After more then 1 million signatures, more then 130 candidates,
and months of grassroots campaigning, the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals decided that people in California are just too ignorant to
have their voices heard. The court thinks the simple punch card
ballot ““ the same system elected our current governor ““
is too challenging for the common citizen who wants to vote in the
recall election.

It does not matter that the people in California have used this
same system to elect officials for generations. The only thing that
matters, according to the court, is that every vote counts. Every
single vote. Well, the only bad news is that if we wait for every
singe vote to count, and for our elections to be perfect, we will
never again hold an election in California or anywhere else in this
country.

In a state that wants to recall an elected governor who served
less then one year of his term, can we really expect every single
person to be able to punch, check, click, or touch the ballot in
the correct way?  Is it reasonable to assume that all 65
people who endorsed a porn star, a child actor, or the lead singer
of an ’80s hair-band can follow the pre-printed instructions
of the election ballot correctly? I fear not, and the Court of
Appeals seems to be on my side.

Realistically, though, I don’t see how one voting system
is so clearly superior to another.

In this mad, mad world, it only seems fitting that a supposed
right wing conspiracy to get rid of an elected governor is now put
on hold by an equally likely left wing conspiracy in the court
system  

The biggest problem in this election will not be pregnant,
dimpled or hanging chads: It will be trying to find Arnold among
the 130 names and not giving into the temptation to vote for Larry
Flynt ““ in the hopes of him making gambling and prostitution
legal statewide so you can avoid that four-hour drive to Vegas.

Really, though, it is hard to see how this delay will help
either party ““ in fact, it will probably only delay the
inevitable. At this point, the Republican Party has two almost
dead-even candidates running. Based on their past comments, neither
of them will drop, even if the delay turns out to last five
months.

At the same time, Davis is teetering on the edge of the 50
percent margin he needs to survive. Who knows what another five
months in office will mean for his poll ratings ““ by then a
new budget will be in the works, and it probably won’t be
pretty. 

Regardless of how this election ultimately turns out,
Californians should remember that no single leader can magically
make problems disappear. A democracy is by its very nature a group
effort, and this state desperately needs a team player. New blood
might not hurt things in Sacramento, but it will take more than
heady ideals to get this state back on track.

Frankly, none of the current gubernatorial options seem perfect,
but at least a few of them are entertaining.

If only the 9th Circuit kept in mind the porn star, child actor
and billboard model who all want to be governor, maybe it would
have given the citizens of this state a break and allowed the
circus to end on Oct. 7.

Barbalat is a Viewpoint assistant editor.