Voting Rights

WomenMatter will continuously post updates on all this and other issues as we monitor the continuing philosophical and practical debates nationwide. Please check back often for updates. Past updates are available for reference on the Voting Rights Archives page.

The Politics of Celebrity: Republican Strategy Concealed by the Gleam of Tinseltown

Andy Warhol is responsible for the appropriately-overused quote about everyone having 15 minutes of fame. The California recall election is Warholian in many ways, and not just because some candidates are using the election as a publicity stunt. Like a Warhol piece, this election introduces everyday pop art to an entirely new context.

Action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger and billboard princess Angelyne have risen from their pop icon status-spheres to enter a new medium, that of the political election. And our media love it. Most televised media have focused on the crazy swarm of candidates, forgetting to remind the viewer just how this B-movie-like election began.

So, if you’ve found yourself asking, “why is there a recall election?" Or even, “what is a recall election?" You’ve come to the right place. Believe it or not, WomenMatter is not going to focus on The Terminator, The Hustler, or Angelyne’s “Think Rational Pink" slogan. (although…what does that mean?)

The basics and the specifics.

A state law dating back to 1911 allows Californians to remove elected state officials from office through a recall election. In a recall election, voters make two decisions. First, they decide whether or not to eliminate the candidate in question. Second, they vote on a successor for that candidate, in case he or she is in fact voted out.

For a recall election to take place, several things must happen. Proponents of a recall election must file a Notice of Intention with the Secretary of State’s office. In this case, there are 95 official proponents of the recall.

The Secretary of State then certifies the petition for the recall election; the Secretary also publishes the proponents’ reasons for demanding the recall and the candidate’s response to the proponents’ accusations.

Those in favor of removing Governor Davis claim that he has grossly mismanaged funds, causing California to have the worst deficit out of all 50 states. Davis defended himself by calling attention to the national deficit, reminding voters that the entire nation is struggling due to circumstances beyond his control. Davis also blames Republicans for putting so much effort into ousting him from office, instead of working with him to create a better California. Supporters of Gray Davis remind California taxpayers that the recall elections will cost them another $20-40 million.

Sign here please.

The Secretary of State gives proponents 160 days to gather enough signatures to support the recall election. The number of signatures required is equal to 12% of the votes cast for in the previous gubernatorial race. In this case, 897,158 signatures were needed.

Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican, provided $1.6 million dollars to fund the signature-gathering effort. He paid people $1 for signing the petition and got 1.6 million signatures.

Election details.

The election is scheduled to take place on October 7th. Many voters will be using the dreaded punch-card voting machines. This fact has caused the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to petition the courts to postpone the election so that counties can update equipment and ensure a fair vote.

However, various California registrars believe that the punch-card system is just fine. They claim that now that the public is aware of hanging chads, etc, voters will be extra careful with their votes and with their cards. The voting registrars say that new computerized voting machines still need more testing. They assert that using new and unfamiliar touch-screen machines in the recall election would create a more inaccurate vote than the punch cards.

Who is running?

As promised, we won’t dwell on the high-profile candidates. But as of the filing date, Saturday August 9, there are about 100 candidates on the ballot. So, Californians will have to do their research if they want to vote for the person who will best represent them.

Is a recall worth it?

Davis was reelected in November of 2002. Why are citizens angry at him so soon? The energy shortage of last year (caused by suppliers who have not been prosecuted – yet—for their high prices) made people angry. Davis signed contracts to make more electricity available; now taxpayers are angry about that because the prices agreed to in those contracts were high. In addition, the high tech bubble was bigger in California than anywhere else and now the number of people out of work and disappointed is huge. Is joblessness something that a governor should be held responsible for? Does he have a plan to help jobs? Does he make people feel that he cares and is trying to help?

Under the 1911 law a candidate that gets just one vote more than all the others can become Governor. With so many candidates, the winner may actually have just a few percentage points of support in the nation’s largest state. The Republicans who are out of power in California have most to gain and less to lose. So they support recall. The Democrats are in a bind. If they wish to fight recall then they have no candidates to run in case the recall works – since the two votes have to happen at the same time. Voter turnout among Democrats will be critical for their party.

The glitz and the glamour of the recall election has distracted us from some important questions: Is it better to spend time, money and energy on getting an unpopular candidate out of office or to spend that same effort solving the problems that Californians face? Is exiling Davis the only way to make things better in California? How is the high profile of this election harmful or helpful to California residents?

To discuss this topic and these questions with other WomenMatter readers, [click here].

Update Posted on: 8/15/2003

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