Calif. recall on hold over ballots, students concerned

The East Coast may have faced Hurricane Isabel last week, but for the last few months the West Coast has witnessed a whirlwind of a different sort: the California recall election.

If the vote were to succeed, it would be only the second gubernatorial recall in the nation's history.

Gov. Gray Davis is now defending his seat against over 100 hopefuls, and contenders include everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Princeton alumnus Nate Walton '01.

The vote is momentarily stalled as an 11-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco decides whether to keep the voting date on Oct. 7 or postpone it until all counties update their punch card ballot systems. Though the recall push may be temporarily paused, the debate continues to churn from the West Coast to the University's campus.

The controversial topic has drawn strong reactions from students and faculty, often dividing people by party affiliation.

"The California recall is simply another in a long series of attempts by the Republican Party to subvert the spirit of democracy through malicious, partisan campaigns," said Owen Conroy '05, President of College Democrats.

Republicans on campus are more focused on what they consider unfair delay of the recall as the case goes to court.

"The Ninth 'Circus' Court of Appeals has significantly infringed upon Californians' First Amendment rights to clear political speech," said Evan Baehr '05, President of the College Republicans and Editor of the Princeton Tory.

Conroy said Davis' actions never demanded the recall that is all too similar to the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton.

The concerns of many Democrats on campus were echoed in California by several student political organizations.

"If you look at the history that has made this recall happen, it is partisan, it's not the people's revolt," said Alexander De Ocampo, President of the California Young Democrats.

De Ocampo also acknowledged that the recall issue is not strictly confined to California and is generating interest on campuses all across the nation.

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While Democratic students from California mobilize against the recall in their home state, students from other states have also offered to spread awareness, De Ocampo said.

California Republican students, like Baehr in Princeton, disapproved of the voting delays.

Nicholas Romero, Editor-In-Chief of the Gaucho Free Press — a satirical right-wing publication at the University of California at Santa Barbara — expressed concern that the push to delay was irrational and unfounded.

"It is a ridiculous application of Bush v. Gore," Romero said. "That a voting system is too archaic to use in this recall election, when it was used roughly one year ago in Davis' reelection, is a sad reason to postpone the whole event."

Romero said the recall is a natural consequence of bad politics.

"The recall was much less a partisan action and much more a reaction of the voting public's dismay with deceptive tactics," he said.

"Will of the people"

Despite partisan finger-pointing, Joshua Tucker, assistant professor of politics and international Affairs, said the will of the people may be lost in the recall system.

"What is fascinating about the recall is the possibility that a candidate will be elected with a plurality of the vote that does not begin to approach 50 percent of voters," Tucker said.

If the recall passes, he predicted the new governor would garner far less than 50 percent of the vote. It is even possible, Tucker said, that more people will "vote against the recall (and thus implicitly for Gov. Davis) then support the winning candidate."

"In the short term, this will raise questions as to whether the governor will be legitimate in the eyes of Californians," he said.

And that issue will be sure to reheat debate across America's campuses.