Reply #19: Here's my understanding

[devarsi]

You have a good point, but here's my understanding, and rational.

much of it based on info found in a Contra Costra Times artical found here: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/6301273.htm

1)Davis cannot stop the recall if he waits until the last moment and then resigns. State law says that once "the recall petition is filed" the election goes forward even if Davis later resigns. The one uncertainty is what time is meant by when "the recall petition is filed." In local elections, petitions are normally filed at one time, so that point is easy to identify. But with a statewide recall, petitions are continually filed. Election law expert and Loyola Law School professor Hasen says the time might be interpreted to be when the first recall petition was filed (which has already occurred), or, on the other extreme, it might be when the recall petitions are certified (which has yet to occur).

So if Davis has time to resign, then he should, asap. The results are not certified, but they will be eventually.

2)If he resigns: If Davis resigns after "the recall petition is filed," the lieutenant governor would become governor until the recall election. If voters defeat the recall, Bustamante would remain governor. If voters approve the recall, Bustamante would give up the office to the person selected in the replacement election.

If Davis has already run out of time to stop the vote, he should STILL resign and NOW, and here is why. On resigning, Davis is gone, Bustamante is in. Without the emotional factor of getting rid of Davis, the whole issue becomes moot, and the vote factor will surely change. Why vote to get rid of the guy if he's already gone?

The Dems can actually use this to their advantage. Davis resigns, then Bustamante asks them to withdraw the petition. They either won't, or can't. But the average Joe wont think about this, they'll only think that the Repukes are responsible for the price of a useless recall vote.

If, for some reason, they CAN pull the petition, and do pull it, then the Dems get to keep the office, AND brag that they saved the taxpayers sever tens of millions of dollars.

Yeah, Davis should resign now, to either stop the vote, or build up sympathy and push for a no vote on the recall.