LOS ANGELES, 16 September 2003 — A federal appeals court postponed California’s Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election yesterday in a decision that threw what has already been a chaotic campaign into utter turmoil.
Californians had been scheduled to go to the polls to decide on whether to remove Gov. Gray Davis from office. The two-part ballot was to ask first whether Davis should be recalled, and then would ask voters to chose from 135 candidates vying to replace him.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the vote cannot proceed as scheduled because some votes would be cast using outmoded punch-card ballot machines.
The decision applies to all the recall questions on the ballot, as well as two propositions.
The court withheld ordering the immediate implementation of its decision by one week to allow time for an appeal to the US Supreme Court.
“Give us 24 hours,” said Ted Costa, head of the Sacramento-based Peoples’ Advocate, one of the groups that pushed for the recall election to be held, who said an appeal is certain.
A spokesman for Davis said the governor will continue his campaign “until the issue is resolved in the courts,” but supported the appeals court’s ruling.
“Anything that leads to greater enfranchisement in California is something we support,” said spokesman Peter Ragone.
Neither Davis nor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the leading Republican candidates, had an immediate reaction to the appeals court ruling.
