 |
 -0 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
RECALL CERTIFIED; DAVIS FACES VOTERS Democratic leaders vow to focus on defeating the recall and to not offer a candidate in a replacement election. A group of recall opponents has tried, thus far unsuccessfully, to block the election. On Wednesday, a state appeals court in Los Angeles refused their request to intervene. Recall opponents then appealed to the state Supreme Court. The question of whether voters will pick a Davis successor on the recall ballot stems from a debate over possibly conflicting portions of the state constitution. Bustamante stopped short of assuring that voters would get a say. "My duty is to set the date," Bustamante said. As to whether the recall should also include an election for a possible successor, the lieutenant governor said that was not his decision to make. He said he was consulting with lawyers from the attorney general's office, the secretary of state's office and the legislative counsel on the wording of the proclamation he will issue. "I'm going to refer to those attorneys from those offices to give me the language. If there are constitutional issues involved, it's not me who decides." Shelley left no doubt he believes voters should weigh in on the replacement. "We believe that it must include" that second question. He said he had conveyed that position to Bustamante. He also said legal challenges might help shape the election. "The (state) Supreme Court may ... be involved in this," he said. Recall backers will fight any attempt by Bustamante to assume the post, said David Gilliard, a consultant for the signature-gathering effort. "I don't think the lieutenant governor would attempt a palace coup here." The recall ballot also will include two measures originally scheduled for the March 2 statewide election. • One is the Racial Privacy Initiative, spearheaded by University of California Regent Ward Connerly, that would, with exceptions, ban state and local government from collecting racial data. • The other would create an infrastructure fund with money set aside from the state general fund. The election will be held on an unusually short time frame. Shelley said his office would work closely with county election officials to ensure they can overcome technical and financial obstacles. The goal is to prevent a meltdown, he said. "No one, obviously, wants a Florida-type election here in California," he said. "I certainly don't want that on my watch as secretary of state."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff writer Corey Lyons contributed to this story.
|
|
|
