New twist in on-off California vote

Governor Davis is fighting for his political life

A US appeals court has agreed to reconsider its decision to delay California's disputed polls on whether to oust the state's embattled governor.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in San Francisco said an expanded bench of 11 judges would re-hear the appeal.

A three-judge panel postponed the scheduled 7 October polls in a hearing on Monday amid concerns about some counties' outdated punch card ballots.

As the outcome of the court battle over California's future remained uncertain, candidates vying to replace Governor Gray Davis continued to campaign.

A host of candidates have lined up to contest the election, including Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Powerful state

The original panel of judges agreed that the use of outdated punch-card voting machines in some predominantly black and Hispanic districts would risk disenfranchising thousands of people.

On Wednesday, the full court made the rare move of saying it might be willing to reconsider the ruling, and gave interested parties 24 hours to make submissions.

Critics of Governor Davis, a Democrat whose economic record has been in the spotlight, triggered the election by collecting enough signatures from voters.

Republicans are keen to gain control of the powerful state ahead of next year's presidential election.

The "recall election" would see voters given a choice of deciding whether or not Mr Davis should remain in office - and selecting his successor if he is removed.

Civil liberties

In his submission to the court, California's Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, said delaying the vote would lead to a "constitutional crisis".

The California constitution required that a recall vote be taken no longer than 80 days after enough signatures of registered voters had been collected, he said.

Mr Shelley added that tens of millions of dollars had already been spent on sending out two million absentee ballots and other vote-related material to voters.

In their submissions, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties - which still use punch-card ballots - told the court they could carry out a fair election and urged the judges to allow it to proceed.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued it was not necessary for the court to hold a review.