Powerline weighs in. They make a good point regarding voter fraud. This could open up a whole can of worms in California.
Federal Court Delays Recall Election
powerlineblog.com
In what strikes me as a bizarre move, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered a delay in California's recall election on the ground that if the election proceeds as scheduled by statute, six counties will use punch card ballots. TheCourt said that punch card machines are "more prone to voter error than are newer voting systems." While I haven't yet seen the Court's decision, I assume it must be based on some hitherto-unknown Constitutional principle, or else the federal court would have no jurisdiction to tell California how to run its election. No word yet on when the court will tell California to hold the election.
There are several ironies here. The Democrats' most recent ploy has been to disparage the recall as the latest in a series of "undemocratic" efforts by Republicans to overturn the popular will. (How an election can be undemocratic is unclear, but never mind.) It will be interesting to see how they react to something that is truly undemocratic; i.e., a court's order that an election called pursuant to state law not take place.
The implications of the court's order are unclear. Is the court telling us that it is unconstitutional for any county in America to use punch card machines? Or just these counties in California? Was every election held over the last 100 years unconstitutional? Or is the Constitutional right to non-punch card voting machines one that just now came into being?
Also, the court's solicitude for the possibility of punch card error is ironic in the context of the massive voter fraud that afflicts American elections. If voters are Constitutionally entitled to elections free of punch card error, are they also entitled to elections that are free of voter fraud? Or, more precisely, if counties are Constitutionally required to use the most up to date technology to reduce the relatively remote chance of machine error, why aren't they also required to use the most up to date technologies to reduce the much greater risk of voter fraud? And if punch cards are unconstitutional, why aren't Motor Voter laws? Or, if issuing drivers' licenses to illegal aliens will facilitate voter fraud--as it surely will--then isn't the recent California enactment, signed just a few days ago by Governor Davis, unconstitutional?
Don't expect serious discussion of any of these issues from our federal courts. The 9th Circuit, and probably most other federal courts, would be much more likely to hold that election systems that facilitate voter fraud are required by the Constitution than prohibited by it. |
