California declares a new alphabet!

Tue Aug 12 09:35:39 UTC 2003

All

Normally I would not post such a long inclusion, but this one is just too
good -- and apt -- to pass up.  The official declaration comes in the 10th
paragraph.  From today's NY Times:

Frank Abate

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

August 12, 2003
How to Run a Recall Election: Begin by Juggling the Alphabet
By DEAN E. MURPHY

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 11 — Even the alphabet is getting an official makeover as
part of the California recall election. Put the ABC's out of mind. It now
goes something like this (when singing, the familiar melody is still O.K.):
R, W, Q, O, J, M, V, A, H, B, S, G, Z, X, N, T, C, I, E, K, U, P, D, Y, F
and L.

The race to replace Gov. Gray Davis, often likened to a carnival, looked
more like a political version of "Wheel of Fortune" today. A state elections
official, assisted by a part-time percussionist from a Latin jazz band,
determined the random alphabetical order of the candidates on the Oct. 7
ballot under the glare of klieg lights with a floor-to-ceiling display as a
backdrop.

"They needed someone with experience in front of the camera," said the
percussionist, Miguel Castillo, an analyst in the secretary of state's
office and the manager of a rock band. "I asked if I could break into song,
but they wouldn't let me."

It is still not known who has officially qualified to appear on the ballot
as a possible successor to Mr. Davis, should he lose the recall vote. At
last count, 195 candidates had submitted the necessary paperwork, with more
names still trickling in today from county elections offices.

Once the final tally is official, probably not until Wednesday, the new
alphabet will be used to place them in order. Secretary of State Kevin
Shelley said today that 96 of the candidates had so far been determined
legitimate and were likely to be among those certified.

But Mr. Shelley could not predict what the final list might look like or how
such an unwieldy ballot would play with the voters.

"Let me be candid," he said, "there are going to be problems. Like in any
situation, you play with the cards you have been dealt."

Mr. Castillo's was a nonspeaking part, but no matter. The percussionist
expertly churned a bingo-style barrel painted gold and crammed with 26
plastic film canisters, each containing a different letter.

The state official joining him, Shirley Washington, who works in the press
office for the secretary of state, assumed the Vanna White role, plucking
the canisters one by one and reading the letters aloud. She did so under the
scrutiny of a former director of the California lottery, positioned just off
stage.

"This is now the new alphabet," Terri M. Carbaugh, an assistant secretary of
state, declared after the final letter, L, was drawn.

It would have been an appropriate moment to extend condolences to Dick Lane
of Santa Clara County and Gary Leonard of Los Angeles, two candidates who
will never appear at the top of the ballot under a dizzying rotation system
that assures a different candidate occupies the marquee position in each of
the state's 80 assembly districts.

Using the current list of 96 qualified candidates, for example, the first
name on the ballot would be David Laughing Horse Robinson, an artist from
the Central Valley. He would be followed by Ned Fenton Roscoe, a Libertarian
from Napa, and Daniel C. Ramirez, a Democrat from Imperial County.

Some of the race's biggest-name contenders would not show up until well down
the roster. The actor Arnold Schwarzenegger would be in the 45th spot, Lt.
Gov. Cruz Bustamante in the 43rd. Bill Simon Jr., the Republican candidate
for governor last November, would be 48th, and Peter V. Ueberroth, the
former baseball commissioner, 74th.

But that lineup would apply only to the first of the state's 80 Assembly
districts, a mostly rural area that covers the state's far northwest corner,
including Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, a place where redwoods and wild
animals outnumber people.

Under the rotation system, the top name on the ballot falls to the bottom in
each successive district, so that each of 80 candidates on the ballot gets
the best billing in one district. So keeping with the example of the 96
candidates, Mr. Robinson would drop to No. 96 in the second assembly
district, also in rural northern California, and so on.

With such a system, it is hard to know where a candidate might want to land
in the alphabetical tally.

If the last election for governor is any guide, Democratic candidates like
Mr. Bustamante should be hoping for a shot at the top of ballot in Districts
45, 46, 47, 48 and 52. All of them are in Los Angeles County and all voted
overwhelmingly for Mr. Davis. In his best showing statewide, the governor
got 83 percent of the vote in District 48.

For Republicans, the odds-on favorites based on the same election would be
District 32, which covers parts of Kern and Tulare Counties; District 71 in
Orange County; District 66 in Riverside and San Diego Counties; District 29
in Fresno and Tulare Counties; and District 73, in Orange and San Diego
Counties.

All of those counties voted heavily for Mr. Simon. He had his strongest
showing in District 32, where he won 65 percent of the vote.

The ballot will have two parts. First, voters must decide whether Mr. Davis
should be recalled. They must then choose a successor should he lose.

Mr. Shelley, the secretary of state, said random alphabetical drawing had
been performed for statewide elections since 1975, following court rulings
that determined the standard alphabetical listing of candidates was
unconstitutional. Studies at the time, Mr. Shelley said, showed that the
name at the top of a ballot typically enjoys an advantage.

"We do it prior to every election," he said. "No one ever comes."

Until today.

At least a dozen television cameras recorded Ms. Washington's every move. A
crush of radio reporters huddled beneath the bingo barrel, their microphones
extended as close as possible to capture the clickety-clack of the tumbling
canisters.

"We need the sound! We need the sound!" one demanded, as officials slid the
barrel closer to them.

The interest from the news media and the public was so great — even a few
lesser-known candidates showed up — that the event was moved from a small
room into an auditorium in the secretary of state's building.

There Mr. Shelley was introduced with Pat Sajak fanfare (his entrance from
stage right was announced in advance for the cameras) and then fielded
questions. Afterwards, "a five-minute intermission" was announced for
journalists to prepare for the drawing.

"This is a big test for California," Mr. Shelley said before exiting stage
left for San Francisco. "History will be our witness."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company