Thanks.  I'm still a bit confused about this, as the first line of
S 8000 says "This chapter does not apply to:  (a) Recall elections."
That to me implies that Division 8 (Nominations), Part 1
(Primary Election Nominations), Chapter 1 (Direct Primary) do not
apply to recall elections ...

But, if Chapter 1 does apply, then how does this all work
vis-a-vis the parties --- does each qualified party produce a candidate,
or is a statewide recall nonpartisan, or can a party have multiple
nominees (ie, anyone who qualifies under the conditions set in the
chapter and quoted in your response)?

On the politics:

There have been reports in the past few days from recall supporters
saying that they have already gathered 400,000 signatures.  Also, Daniel
Borenstein in the Contra Costa Times recently quoted Bob Mulholland
(state Democratic Party) as prediciting that the Republicans would
gather the necessary signatures.  

Another interesting twist is that the recall supporters appear to be
pushing hard to get the necessary signatures gathered and certified
quickly (mid-July), to thereby hold the recall 
election in November (as a special
statewide election), rather than in March '04.  This would avoid
both having the recall election on the presidential primary
ballot (likely to be held with a large Democratic turnout), 
and would also avoid complications for Issa (who might have to
run in a primary to hold onto his congressional seat as well as
run for governor in the recall effort).

*********************************************************************
R. Michael Alvarez				(O) 626-395-4422
Professor of Political Science			(F) 626-405-9841 
Co-Director, Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125                              
rma@hss.caltech.edu
*********************************************************************



On Thu, 5 Jun 2003 Holman@aol.com wrote:

Michael:

The procedure for nomination to a recall ballot in California, as you noted, 
follows a normal albeit truncated nomination process. The campaign finance 
requirements are covered under the Government Code, but it is the Elections Code 
that governs nomination procedures. First, under Section 8100 of the Elections 
Code, a potential candidate must first file a declaration of candidacy by 
paying a fee of 2% of the salary for the office sought or, alternatively, submit 
valid signatures of 10,000 registered voters (for statewide office). Second, 
once candidacy is declared, under Sections 8400 and 11381 of the Elections 
Code, the potential candidate must gather valid signatures amounting to at least 
1% of registered voters of the state at the time of the preceding general 
election filed no less than 59 days before the scheduled recall election (for 
statewide office).

On the recall ballot, the question of whether the officer shall be recalled 
is accompanied with the list of nominated candidates. Voters must first vote on 
whether the officer is to be recalled, and then choose among the candidates 
slated to replace the officer. If 50% plus 1 votes are cast in favor of 
recalling the officer, then the nominated candidate with a plurality of votes is 
selected to replace the recalled officer for the remainder of the term.

This particular recall drive against Governor Gray Davis, I would like to 
add, wreaks of political opportunism and, if successful, casts a pall over direct 
democracy. First of all, in my humble opinion, it will not succeed. Despite 
Davis' deservedly low popularity ratings, the signature threshold in California 
to recall statewide officers is exceedingly difficult to achieve. Gathering 
900,000 signatures in such a short time period requires little short of a 
widespread popular revulsion against Davis, sufficient to mobilize armies of 
signature gatherers. Purchasing the signatures, as Issa is attempting to do (perhaps 
even at a price tag of $3 million), can gather a lot of signatures, but I 
seriously doubt enough to qualify in this short time frame.

Assuming I am wrong and the recall petition does qualify for the ballot, then 
Issa must meet the second great hurdle: convincing 50% plus 1 voters that 
Davis is not just a bad governor, but so awful that California should pay for a 
whole new statewide election and replace Davis with Issa.

Yea, that'll happen.

One would think after Issa's experience of attempting to buy a statewide 
office once in California, he would know better.

Craig Holman, Ph.D.
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
TEL: 202-454-5182
FAX: 202-546-2658
Holman@aol.com