Los Angeles, Sept 24: A US appeals court has reinstated California's delayed special elections next month, giving movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger his best chance of becoming the state's next Governor. An 11-judge bench of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday ended weeks of uncertainty by unanimously overturning a delay on the October 7 vote imposed by three judges of the same court last week.
The latest twist in the on-off saga of the historic recall vote clears the way for the 133 candidates, including Republican Schwarzenegger, to try to unseat embattled Democratic Governor Gray Davis in two weeks time. The panel rejected arguments by the American Civil Liberties Union that the elections should be postponed until March by when inaccurate punch-card voting machines in use in parts of the state would be replaced.
"There is no doubt that the right to vote is fundamental, but a federal court cannot lightly interfere with or enjoin a state election," the panel ruled less than 24 hours after hearing arguments in the case. They dismissed as "speculative" claims that 40,000 voters would be disenfranchised by the machines -- the same type that caused chaos in Florida during 2000 presidential polls that left the presidency undecided.
The rights group said it had reluctantly decided not appeal the decision -- in which judges also cited the cost of polls preparations estimated at 30 to 50 million dollars -- to the US Supreme Court. Bureau Report