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Foes of recall lose twice in court Kiesel attempted to argue that the whole point of the petition process is not to catch people in a crime but to determine if enough qualified voters wanted to put a measure on the ballot. "The point is to prevent a fraud," he said, adding that the signatures themselves will be called into question. "This is not about punishing the circulators. It is about the integrity of the election process." But the judge said: "I don't see the urgency, and I'm not going to order it. " LAW MISINTERPRETED? In the second court action Friday, an appellate court said Shelley had misinterpreted the law and should order counties to speed up their counting of votes. Howard Kaloogian, a former assemblyman who filed the lawsuit, declared victory and said the court's decision will require a special election by October. "This is a terrific victory for the people of California," Kaloogian said in a statement, with a headline that read, "Kaloogian wins!" No final decision was issued by the Third Appellate District, however, and Shelley said the "routine procedural" ruling hasn't changed anything about how signatures are being counted and verified as legitimate. He will produce his legal arguments next week and said he looks "forward to making our case before the court." The Kaloogian lawsuit concerns instructions Shelley made to the 58 counties verifying whether recall signatures are from registered voters. Shelley believes the law doesn't require elections officials to verify signatures continuously, only to report every 30 days any signatures they happen to have verified as legitimate. The court, however, said the law requires counties to verify signatures "upon each submission," not every 30 days, and submit those results "forthwith" to Shelley's office. "It appears local elections officials lack the discretion to chose whether or not to verify signatures," the court wrote. The issue is important because if elections officials take their time verifying signatures during the 30-day window, it could delay the final certification of the election, perhaps even moving it to the March 2 presidential primary. That election date is considered more favorable to Davis because more Democrats are expected to turn out. Either way, Shelley's office believes most counties already are continuously verifying the signatures, despite his instructions. Many counties have said they want to verify the signatures as they come in; otherwise they will pile up and create gridlock. JEB BUSH IN STATE The legal rulings Friday came as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of President Bush, traveled to California to raise money for the California Republican Party. An estimated $400,000 was expected to be raised at events in Orange County, Sacramento and Fresno. Jeb Bush, speaking at a press conference in Sacramento, declined to comment on the recall against Davis, but marveled that the deficit in California, which is now $38 billion, is so large it "blots out the sun." He now faces his own $4 billion deficit in Florida, after saying last October "Florida does not have a budget deficit." The recall is an important calculus for the White House and President Bush's attempts to win California voters next year. There is fear that if voters oust Davis in a recall, Bush would lose a prominent political punching bag.
E-mail James Sterngold jsterngold@sfchronicle.com and Robert Salladay at rsalladay@sfchronicle.com.
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