October 3, 2003

4 DAYS . . .

The latest campaign information and tidbits:

TV TAKEOVER: In a campaign that has seemed to break all the rules of California politics, one has held: The TV ad is still king. So the candidates are taking over the tube, bloblike.

The campaigns, and the interest groups that back them, are estimated by strategists and analysts to be betting more than $10 million this week alone that TV advertising will make the difference in these last days, when undecided -- or mildly committed -- voters make up their minds.

Strategists for the three major candidates are trying to ensure that every citizen who owns a television set sees their advertisements at least 15 times between now and Election Day. That voters may burn out on election information -- and thus tune it out altogether -- does not seem to bother them.

''You know the answer to overkill, right?'' said Richie Ross, the chief strategist for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. ''More."

FLORIDA REDUX?: Political activists are planning to scrutinize punch-card ballot results in California's historic recall election, raising the likelihood of a recount if the outcome is close.

The ACLU is watching closely for evidence of voter disenfranchisement, as is the California Democratic Party, which began soliciting $100,000 this week for a ''No More Floridas!'' campaign to scrutinize alleged violations.

Computer scientists will be watching as well, looking for statistical anomalies in the four counties that use touch-screen voting. With almost one in 10 registered voters using touch-screen machines that don't automatically produce paper printouts, they say a legitimate recount would prove impossible. Elections officials dismiss the concerns as overblown, but David Dill, a computer science professor at Stanford University and a leading skeptic of touch-screen voting, is urging voters in the four counties with the terminals -- Alameda, Riverside, Shasta and Plumas -- to vote with absentee ballots, which use optical scan systems and provide paper ballots. He fears falsification or deletion of votes on touch-screen systems.

Threats of a recount worry election officials all over the state. Whoever requests the recount must pay for it, but the lengthy process could overlap with some county elections in early November.

— STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

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