The circus continues until March so says the 9th Circuit Court.
The court wrote today, "The choice between holding a hurried, constitutionally infirm election and one held a short time later that assures voters that the 'rudimentary requirements of equal treatment and fundamental fairness are satisfied' is clear. . . . These issues are better resolved prophylactically than by bitter, post-election litigation over the legitimacy of the election, particularly where the margin of voting machine error may well exceed the margin of victory.
Hummm. Florida has trouble with punch card ballots in 2000. People decided that punch card ballots were bad. 2002 California Gubernatorial election occurs with same punch ballots and no one remembers how undemocratic they are. Recall election planned for 2003 and someone remembers that they disenfranchise voters. Is the Davis victory in 2002 any more legitimate than what could be expected by an October 2003 vote?
If you polled the actual people who can't figure out the punch card system what percentage do you think could name the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, or even their own Congressional delegation? My bet is that less than 20% could name them all and less than half even know their own Congressmen.
It’s getting to be a semi-annual event where the media talks about voter apathy and the perils it causes democracy. But has anyone considered the perils we put democracy through when a court insists that simpletons are more important than the election itself? A real danger is that America becomes so apathetic that only the simpletons bussed to the polls with fresh $20 bills in their dukes will even care to vote.
The country would probably be better served if there was no California recall and Americans could get a glimpse of what happens to a state where the politicians insist on giving away all the money they can steal and borrow. But postponing the election because some people are too dense to understand how to vote is good indicator of why federal judges have too much power over the democratic process, and how we have watered down the voting franchise to the point where citizens aren’t responsible for anything but showing up and pushing the computer read-out screen.
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