California election back on

Gray Davis will face a vote this year after all

A US appeals court has overturned a ruling that would have delayed the "recall" election to decide the future of the governor of California.

The court unanimously ruled the election should go ahead as scheduled on 7 October.

Candidates hoping to replace California Governor Gray Davis, such as Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have continued to campaign as the legal battle rumbles on.

Last week a small panel of appeal court judges decided the use of outdated punch-card voting machines in some predominantly black and Hispanic districts would risk disenfranchising thousands of people.

But that ruling was overturned by 11 judges of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - which had sought the postponement - said it would not appeal against the ruling, removing the final legal roadblock to the poll.

Powerful state

Critics of Governor Davis blame him for California's financial crisis, and successfully campaigned for the recall vote.

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

Voters will be given a choice of deciding whether or not Mr Davis should remain in office - and of selecting his successor if he is removed.

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

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

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

Los Angeles and Sacramento counties - which still use punch-card ballots - have said they could carry out a fair election and believe it should proceed.