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Sequoia prints recall ballots { August 12 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46636-2003Aug11.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46636-2003Aug11.html
Calif. Recall Poses Logistical Challenge
Multiple Ballots May Confuse Voters
By Rene Sanchez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 12, 2003; Page A01
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 -- Election officials across California said today that staging a recall election with what now appears to be nearly 200 candidates for governor is posing monumental challenges that include using ballots that may confuse voters and be difficult to tabulate.
Even before a last-minute onslaught of candidates filed paperwork to join the race this past weekend, election officials had been struggling to organize the Oct. 7 vote and to prepare a ballot that will look like none other in California's history. Some counties have been having trouble finding enough voting sites, poll workers and printers on such short notice.
Now, the prospect of so many contenders vying to replace Gov. Gray Davis (D) if a majority of voters decides to remove him from office is creating another extraordinary new burden. The huge field set to run in the recall, registrars say, could force them for the first time to hand voters multiple ballots for the same race, and could delay vote tallies for days.
"It's going to be confusing and it's going to be time-consuming," said Bruce Bradley, assistant registrar of Ventura County. "It's a disaster waiting to happen."
Amid the new turmoil over the recall ballot, Davis renewed his attacks today on the historic special election, calling it an "insult" to voters in last year's gubernatorial election in California and suggesting that it will cost the state $70 million that it does not have. Several Republican candidates for his job, meanwhile, accused film star Arnold Schwarzenegger of lacking the experience to lead the nation's most populous state. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has become a dominant figure in the race since his surprise entry last week.
Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will not finalize the recall ballot until later this week. Today, even as the applications of dozens of prospective candidates were still being scrutinized, he began using a complex random lottery to determine the order in which so many names will appear on ballots.
"Every day will present us with issues we have never faced before," he said.
For many California counties, the timing of the recall election could not be worse. Some are planning to use new electronic voting systems that neither elections staffs nor precinct volunteers have been trained to use. Others reluctant to use the new systems in haste say they will drag punch-card voting machines -- which the state has banned beginning next year -- out of mothballs. There is growing anxiety that the recall election could produce a voting debacle similar to the one that engulfed Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
Citing those concerns, Davis asked the California Supreme Court last week to delay the recall until March, when the state's presidential primary is scheduled, but he was rebuffed. The American Civil Liberties Union has made a similar challenge to the election in federal court here; that lawsuit is pending.
Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU's Southern California office, said today that tens of thousands of voters are at risk of being disenfranchised in the recall election because some counties will use outdated equipment and present long, confusing ballots.
"This is going to make what happened in Florida look like spring training," he said. "There has never been a ballot like the ballot that's going to face California voters. Nobody anticipated that there would be more than 100 names on it."
But some elections officials are scoffing at such dire predictions. Conny B. McCormack, registrar of Los Angeles County, which has about 4 million registered voters, said she does not fear the recall election will be chaotic because voters will encounter only a few questions and are accustomed to the punch-card ballots the county plans to use.
"It's a more focused ballot, so the time voters spend with it may be shorter than usual," she said. "And the system we're using is tried and true."
Still, McCormack said the county is "absolutely scrambling" to prepare for the election, which was set in late July after more than 1.3 million California residents signed petitions demanding another vote on Davis, who was reelected last November.
For regularly scheduled elections, Los Angeles County opens nearly 5,000 voting precincts. This time, because so many of its traditional polling sites already were booked for Oct. 7, the county will have only 1,800 voting locations.
Similar problems are arising elsewhere in California, as registrars who normally have nine months to prepare for an election now have weeks. In Sonoma County, officials say that because there is room for only 52 names on their ballots, they will have to give voters several of them -- and they fear that some voters may punch a hole in every card they receive, which would invalidate their vote. "We've never had a contest where the number of candidates exceeded one card," said Janice Atkinson, the county's assistant registrar.
In Shasta County, officials are rushing to train their staff members and volunteers on the new touch-screen voting system that will be used in the election. Training originally had been scheduled for Oct. 7 -- the date of the recall vote. "This is a whole new ballgame for everyone," said Cathy Darling, the assistant county clerk.
Many counties also say that time is running out to get sample ballots printed and mailed to voters -- and that the limited number of companies approved for that work by state officials are overwhelmed.
Alfie Charles, public affairs director for Sequoia Voting Systems, which has contracts to print ballots for 30 of the state's 58 counties, said the large number of candidates running in the recall will make printing and proofreading under tight deadline pressure difficult. California ballots must be printed in seven languages, too.
Charles also worries that giving voters multiple ballots for the same race could be troublesome. "Overvoting may be a problem because voters are accustomed to seeing all the candidates on one side of one piece of paper," he said. "Here they may be looking at candidates on both sides of a paper or multiple cards. There is a possibility they may make more selections than they are allowed."
The recall ballot will present voters with two questions: Should Davis be recalled? And, if so: Who should replace him? If a majority vote "no" on the first question, the rest of the ballot is irrelevant. But if a majority decide to oust Davis, then the candidate who receives the most votes -- not a majority of votes -- will become governor. Voters who reject the recall may still choose a successor to Davis on the ballot. But Davis's name will not appear among the candidates listed.
Only one other state has ever subjected its governor to a recall vote, and that was North Dakota in 1921.
Earlier this summer, state officials said that the recall would cost about $30 million. They have since doubled that estimate, and may revise it upward yet again now that so many candidates -- 195 at last count today -- have filed paperwork to enter the race. The requirements were minimal: a $3,500 filing fee and 65 valid voter signatures.
In an appearance this morning on NBC's "Today" show, Davis acknowledged voter "frustration and disappointment" with the job he's doing, adding that he has "gotten the message." But Davis said the recall is wasting money that would be better spent on education, health care and public safety.
Along with several Republican candidates in the race, Davis also questioned Schwarzenegger's credentials, saying the actor has "a long ways to go to explain what he would do as governor." Schwarzenegger, who some polls suggest is leading the large field of candidates to replace Davis, toured a day camp for disadvantaged children in New York City this morning, but he did not comment on the campaign.
Special correspondent Kimberly Edds contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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