THE US: The California recall election is on again, following a ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco yesterday. California voters will now be asked to decide on October 7th, as originally planned, if they want to recall Governor Gray Davis and who should take his place.
However the ruling by the 11-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeal could still be appealed to the US Supreme Court, and legal action after an election could throw California politics into chaos.
The original three-judge panel postponed the election because six California counties would use outdated punch-card ballots that were the subject of the "hanging chads" battle in the 2000 presidential election in Florida.
Citing the uproar over the Florida vote, the panel had ruled that it would be a "constitutionally infirm election" to proceed before new voting machines were inbstalled by next March, as it could lead to "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."
Citing the California constitution, the appeals court yesterday reinstated a ruling by a district court judge who refused to postpone the election.
Polls show California voters divided almost equally on whether to recall the Democratic Governor who was elected only last November but has seen his popularity slump over his handling of the state's ailing economy.
Among the 135 candidates jostling to replace Davis, Lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante is favourite to win for the Democratic Party. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Senator Tom McClintock are the leading Republicans.
Fearing a split Republican vote, many of the conservative Republicans behind the recall effort are appealing to Mr McClintock to drop out of the race, despite the fact that he is more in line with their political policies, as Schwarzenegger has the only realistic chance of beating Bustamante in a head-on contest.
Without naming McClintock, Congressman Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the California recall effort, is insisting that one of the two leading Republicans drop out, otherwise he would dramatically reverse his stance and start calling for the recall to be defeated.
The former head of the Republican Party in California, Mr Shawn Steele, issued an appeal on behalf of other former party leaders in the state for McClintock to resolve the problem.
"There is but one Democrat candidate and we have two excellent Republicans vying for the reform vote," he said. "The mathematics is simple but profoundly important. We are in danger of repeating the same error, well meaning supporters of Ross Perot committed 10 years ago (enabling Bill Clinton to win the presidency). Can we imagine a life under Cruz Bustamante for years ahead? What would remain of the middle class or the existence of our party?" They urged McClintock to endorse Schwarzenegger.
The Hollywood film star will tonight take part in a televised debate with the leading candidates.
"We go for the Super Bowl of debates," Schwarzenegger said, comparing the strategy to the approach he took during his body-building days.