Loose regulations mean virtually anyone can be a gubernatorial candidate.

Mario Canseco

Last week, California state officials announced that a recall election will take place on Oct. 7. The ballot will incorporate two questions. One queries whether Democrat Gray Davis should be driven out, and the second asks the voter to select the state's next governor.

Some see the recall as an exercise in democracy that allows the electorate to choose again. Others believe it is an abomination of existing rules that typifies political bickering in the Golden State.

In the United States, a vote of this kind has only happened once before. In 1920, North Dakota governor Lynn J. Frazier introduced a series of reforms to foster accountability in the state. His main goal was to establish an industrial commission to review the operations of state-administered businesses.

As part of a series of amendments, Frazier outlined a procedure to remove public officials. One year later, voters were fed up with Frazier's economic policies and decided to recall the governor using his own proposal. In the same ballot where Frazier was ousted, Ragnvold Nestos was backed to become the state's 13th governor.

Seventeen American states currently permit the removal of public officers through a vote, but the rules in California are the loosest. Proponents required the signatures of 12 per cent of eligible voters from the previous election. In other states, 25 per cent is needed. In the end, 1.36 million valid signatures were collected in the Golden State, a little more than 18 per cent of the electoral roll.

Californians re-elected Davis last November, giving the incumbent 47.3 per cent of the vote, while Republican rival Bill Simon had 42.4 per cent. Despite the win, the last nine months have been extremely difficult for Davis. California has not rebounded from a deep energy crisis, high unemployment rates and a $38 million U.S. deficit. According to the latest Field poll, the approval rating for Davis is at 23 per cent, the lowest since the survey began 55 years ago.

While disappointment with Davis has been constant for some time, Californians are split over election rules, which allow virtually anyone to run. In order to be listed as a candidate in the recall ballot, a person must collect 65 signatures and pay a fee before Aug. 9.

With such unrestrained regulations, the list of candidates is expected to be long. Republican Darrel Issa has been the public face of the campaign. The congressman used his own money to finance the recall, and is expected to put his name on the ballot. 1996 Republican vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger have also been mentioned. But the list does not stop there. Today, Jack Grisham of punk group T.S.O.L. said he will run. Political pundit Arianna Huffington might stand, but only if ex-husband Michael Huffington—a former U.S. congressman—does not.

The web already has several working sites from prospective candidates, including former Green Party lawmaker Audie Bock, anti-immigration activist Joe Guzzardi and 26-year-old UC Berkeley graduate Georgy Russell, recently "endorsed" by Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz. Playwright Brian Fleming is running under a platform where he will resign if elected, thereby allowing Democrat lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante to substitute Davis.

Aside from all these candidates, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan was the first choice in a Field poll conducted earlier this month. Ironically, Davis targeted Riordan in several 2002 campaign ads, before the Republican nod went to Simon. U.S. president George W. Bush endorsed Riordan last year, but stayed away from the recall issue during a press conference today, saying he's interested in the process merely as a "political observer." The Democrats have said that no party member will be listed in the ballot, although some are asking popular senator Dianne Feinstein to consider a run.

Polls have suggested that the current governor will lose his job. Davis could reflect on what the recall meant for North Dakota's Frazier 82 years ago. The ousted governor went on to serve as a U.S. Senator, from 1923 to 1941.

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