Monday, September 15, 2003
Appellate Court Says "No" To Punchcard Recall
Well, this should be fun to watch. According to CNN and AP:
The 9th Circuit, US Court Of Appeals has just released it's decision on the California recall: it's a no go for October 10th, which neatly reverses the lower court ruling; remember the issue was the state's inability to complete its promise by the October date instead of by March of next year, to replace those punchcard systems used in a fair number of counties, which are known to produce the highest number of spoiled ballots. No problem, said the lower court judge. Yes, a problem said a three judge panel of the Appellate Court; apparently they were all appointed by Democratic Presidents, two by Clinton, one by Carter; the lower court judge was a Republican appointee, I believe.
That sucking sound you hear is Rush Limbaugh and his legion of imitators drawing in sufficient breath to produce another perfect storm of indignant rage.
Don't get too excited; the Appellate Court stopped short of producing an implementation order; instead, they are leaving a week for the appeals that are certain to be made, probably all the way to the Supreme Court.
CNN is reporting that the ballot will have five cards of named candidates for Governor; remember that when Mickey Kaus starts accusing those Judges and all Democrats of being condescending to minorities. I happen to vote in a district that uses punchcards. After voting in ten years worth of elections, I finally ventured up to speak with one of the charming pole volunteers who make elections possible in this state to ask why the State can't work out a system where the punch holes were better aligned with the ballot choices, and that would not require me to go over my ballot to make sure I'd punched through what I now know to be chads. It was then, and only then, I found out that for ten years I had been inserting the ballot improperly, over rather than under the ballot booklet. My votes had counted because I always did a second check to compare the numbers of ballot and booklet, but it made voting a very arduous process. And I'm as bright as the next person.
I'm betting that the last thing on earth this White House wanted was a reminder of Florida, 2000; the opinion makes copious use of that example. I wonder, too, if some Republicans wouldn't love it if a court got in the way of a recall it's beginning to occur to them they might not win.
Let it go to the Supreme Court say I; let it be an exact repeat of the Florida decision.
Then let's have that October recall and beat the pants off of the Republicans.
The 9th Circuit, US Court Of Appeals has just released it's decision on the California recall: it's a no go for October 10th, which neatly reverses the lower court ruling; remember the issue was the state's inability to complete its promise by the October date instead of by March of next year, to replace those punchcard systems used in a fair number of counties, which are known to produce the highest number of spoiled ballots. No problem, said the lower court judge. Yes, a problem said a three judge panel of the Appellate Court; apparently they were all appointed by Democratic Presidents, two by Clinton, one by Carter; the lower court judge was a Republican appointee, I believe.
That sucking sound you hear is Rush Limbaugh and his legion of imitators drawing in sufficient breath to produce another perfect storm of indignant rage.
Don't get too excited; the Appellate Court stopped short of producing an implementation order; instead, they are leaving a week for the appeals that are certain to be made, probably all the way to the Supreme Court.
CNN is reporting that the ballot will have five cards of named candidates for Governor; remember that when Mickey Kaus starts accusing those Judges and all Democrats of being condescending to minorities. I happen to vote in a district that uses punchcards. After voting in ten years worth of elections, I finally ventured up to speak with one of the charming pole volunteers who make elections possible in this state to ask why the State can't work out a system where the punch holes were better aligned with the ballot choices, and that would not require me to go over my ballot to make sure I'd punched through what I now know to be chads. It was then, and only then, I found out that for ten years I had been inserting the ballot improperly, over rather than under the ballot booklet. My votes had counted because I always did a second check to compare the numbers of ballot and booklet, but it made voting a very arduous process. And I'm as bright as the next person.
I'm betting that the last thing on earth this White House wanted was a reminder of Florida, 2000; the opinion makes copious use of that example. I wonder, too, if some Republicans wouldn't love it if a court got in the way of a recall it's beginning to occur to them they might not win.
Let it go to the Supreme Court say I; let it be an exact repeat of the Florida decision.
Then let's have that October recall and beat the pants off of the Republicans.
