Posted on Mon, Aug. 04, 2003  

            Site asks Californians to run for
governor

            By Mary Anne Ostrom
            Mercury News

            A Silicon Valley entrepreneur launched a
Web-based campaign Sunday to derail the recall by
encouraging as many Californians as possible to run
for governor.

            In what Stuart Vance describes as ``a
denial-of-service attack on the recall,'' he and
some tech buddies want to overwhelm election
officials with up to 1,000 names. That could exceed
the number that fits on ballots and force the Oct. 7
election to be delayed.

            By the end of last week, 296
Californians had already taken out the papers that
must be filed by 5 p.m. Saturday to be a candidate
to replace the governor.

            ``I'm no fan of Gray Davis,'' Vance
said. But he called Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's
$1.7 million contribution to the recall ``a
corruption of the democratic process.''

            ``I want to tell the Darrell Issas of
the world that if they twist the system for their
purposes, we the people will untwist it to stop
them,'' said Vance, a former executive with TGV
Software and Network Alchemy.

            Vance was at Santa Cruz's Pacific Garden
Mall on Sunday helping Tim Sylvester, another former
TGV employee, collect enough signatures to get on
the ballot. Vance also plans to run for governor.
Both are Democrats.

            It takes $3,500 and 65 signatures to be
a candidate.

            On his Web site (www.
run-for-governor.org), Vance walks visitors through
the requirements. He also asks for $5,000 donations
to help fund candidates. And he suggests visitors
recruit candidates with the same name as
high-profile potential candidates, such as Bill
Simon, Richard Riordan and even Arnold
Schwarzenegger.

            ``The more confusing the ballot, the
more likely we are to affect the election,'' the
site says.

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            Contact Mary Anne Ostrom at
mostrom@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5574.  


     

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Rights Reserved.
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