 |
 -0 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
Judges Won't Postpone Calif. Recall Vote The decision came in two lawsuits that argued Monterey County's hurriedly assembled balloting plans for the election to unseat Gov. Gray Davis might disenfranchise minority voters. The three-judge panel had delayed ruling on the lawsuits last week in anticipation of guidance from the U.S. Justice Department. That guidance came late Thursday. Justice Department spokesman Jorge Martinez said officials determined the county's plans did not violate the federal Voting Rights Act. The judges said they would give guidance to Monterey County later Friday on how it should go about mailing its 350 overseas ballots. They are considering allowing the county to send the ballots via e-mail. One other legal challenge to the recall election is still pending. That lawsuit, filed by the ACLU, challenges the use of punch-card ballots in six counties. A hearing is scheduled Sept. 11. The pair of lawsuits over Monterey County's balloting asserted that the hurried pace toward the election was forcing California counties to change their voting plans in ways that would make it more difficult for minorities to vote. Specifically at issue was whether cash-strapped Monterey County's plan to hire fewer than usual bilingual poll workers and to consolidate the number of polling locations from about 190 to about 86 would run afoul of the Voting Rights Act. To win federal approval, the county agreed to add an additional five polling places. Justice Department approval was necessary because of the county's large Hispanic population and history of low turnout among Hispanics. Monterey is one of four California counties subject to the "pre-clearance" requirement. Merced and Kings counties already had approval; Yuba County didn't reduce its number. County officials throughout the state have scrambled to prepare for an Election Day that will take place less than 11 weeks after the election was certified. That particularly makes time tight for mailing and receiving overseas ballots. In Monterey County's case, the three-judge panel had issued an injunction delaying the mailings. The judges on Friday were considering allowing the county to send ballots via e-mail to the 110 electronic addresses it has. Overseas voters, most of them residents serving in the military, have called the county demanding their ballots, said Tony Anchundo, Monterey County's registrar of voters. "They could come back and say we were disenfranchising them," he said. One of the two Monterey County lawsuits was filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, which sought to have the entire election delayed on grounds that the Justice Department had not approved Monterey County's proposed changes. The other lawsuit, filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, asked the judges to move Proposition 54 to the March ballot - its original location - alleging that fewer polling places in Monterey County could keep minorities from voting on a proposition that would prohibit state and local governments from tracking the race of their employees, students and contractors. The major candidates and the governor, meanwhile, were back on the campaign trail following the first debate of the recall effort. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent time at a voter registration rally Thursday, appearing unfazed by criticism of his no-show at the debate and expressing confidence that Republicans who think he's too liberal will eventually support him.
"The question they have to ask themselves is: Do they want to keep Gray Davis in office or do they want to replace him with his twin brother, Cruz Bustamante, or do they want to
|
|
|
