 |
 -0 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
Dan Walters: Could Bustamante guarantee only he would succeed Davis? However, two words in the state constitution -- "if appropriate" -- introduce another bizarre element into the recall saga. It's at least possible, although by no means certain, that when Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante calls the Davis recall election, he could block voters from choosing a successor and thus declare that he, and only he, would become governor should voters dump Davis. It would be a gutsy roll of the dice for Bustamante, a politician not known for bold moves. He could simultaneously make it more likely that Davis would be recalled, thwart Republican hopes of taking over the governorship and set himself up to occupy the governor's office for the remainder of the decade. And the national political media would have still another only-in-California tale to tell. Bustamante's spokeswoman says he's not likely to make the move but is "asking the secretary of state for their guidance" about an apparent conflict between the state constitution and state election law. And no matter how Bustamante acts, it could lead to protracted court battles. It's even conceivable that if Davis is recalled, Democrats could pounce on the conflict to set aside the election of a Republican successor. To understand how the scenario could become reality, one must grasp how the recall of a governor may differ from that of any other officeholder. It's long-standing practice that when a recall election is held, voters also choose a successor to the targeted officeholder, with all candidates listed on the ballot and the highest vote-getter winning the office if, in fact, the recall is successful. A number of local officials have faced recall on those terms, as well as two state legislators in recent years. The legal rationale for choosing a successor at the time of a recall election is contained in Section 11322 of the state Election Code: "In addition to the material contained in Section 11320, the following shall appear on ballots at all recall elections, except at a landowner voting district recall election: "a) The names of the candidates nominated to succeed the officer sought to be recalled shall appear under each recall question. "b) Following each list of candidates, the ballot shall provide one blank line with a voting space to the right of it for the voter to write in a name not printed on the ballot." It makes sense that the two-part recall election be applied to local officeholders, state legislators and even statewide officials because they don't have automatic replacements. But the governorship is different because Article 5, Section 10 of the state constitution says flatly: "The lieutenant governor shall become governor when a vacancy occurs in the office of governor." And it lists no exceptions to that dictum. The provision of the constitution that authorizes recalls, meanwhile, appears to give Bustamante the authority to enforce a right to succeed Davis should the recall be approved by voters. If the recall involves the governorship, the constitution designates the lieutenant governor to call an election, and defines his function this way: "An election to determine whether to recall an officer and, if appropriate, to elect a successor shall be called by the (lieutenant) governor and held not less than 60 days nor more than 80 days from the date of certification of sufficient signatures."
The qualifying phrase "if appropriate" on having an election of a successor creates at least a potential rationale for Bustamante to call the election, once recall petitions have been verified, and declare that it would not be appropriate to
|
|
|
