Californians cast ballots in historic recall vote

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Californians cast ballots in historic recall vote

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Californian voters streamed into polling stations early Tuesday for the historic vote to decide whether to recall its beleaguered governor Gray Davis, or choose one to replace Davis if he loses his job.

Polls opened at 7:00 am local time Tuesday across the states, and will stay open until 8:00 pm. Election officials expected a large voter turnout for an election unprecedented in the most populous US state.

In a tight race, Hollywood actor-turned Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger was leading among 135 candidates listed on the ballot to replace the governor. But the Hollywood action star witnessed his support being eroded in the past days by sexual harassment accusations.

Schwarzenegger cast his vote with his wife, Maria Shriver, at aPacific Palisades mansion. Schwarzenegger had to put on his glasses to read the ballot, which was several pages long, to find his own name among the candidates.

"I just went through the pages," he said. "Instead of going through two pages, I just went through 10 pages and you always look for the longest name."

More than 2 million people have already voted by absentee ballot, but state statistics showed that a record 15,380,526 voters had registered for the gubernatorial race.

The chaotic and controversial recall race has been under the spotlight in the United States in the past months.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, President George W. Bushsaid he was expecting to work with Schwarzenegger if the actor is elected California governor. A victory for Schwarzenegger in California could benefit the reelection campaign by Bush, who lostin the state in the last presidential election.

On Monday, Davis, Schwarzenegger and leading Democrat candidateand incumbent Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante spent the whole day crissscrossing the state to bolster voters support.

Schwarzenegger tried very had to deny last-minute sexual harassment allegations while Davis called on voters to give him another chance to finish his term.

The Hollywood action star has been dogged by accusations of sexually harassing 16 women over the last three decades. During avisit at San Jose, Schwarzenegger marshaled the support of his wife, Maria Shriver, and mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and scores of female supporters. As he took the stage at one event,the actor smiled broadly and said, "To all the incredible women, thank you."

Schwarzenegger released a statement Monday denying the latest accusation of sexual harassment.

He also continued to attack Davis for being "among a class of politicians who only know how to "spend, spend, spend" and "tax, tax, tax."

In San Francisco, Davis told a rally of thousands of firefighters chanting "No Recall." "If you give me the chance to finish my term, I will do it with all the passion, all the humanity I can muster because my goal is to make your life better," Davis told the crowd.

Bustamante, the only prominent Democrat on the ballot, appearedin East Los Angeles. He said his internal polling shows him closing on Schwarzenegger. "Frankly, there's a lot of people who feel he's not fit to be the governor," Bustamante said.

Another Republican candidate Tom McClintock, who has rejected GOP pressure to drop out of the race, also said the sexual harassment allegations against Schwarzenegger were boosting his standing among voters.

"I have very profound differences with Mr. Schwarzenegger on a number of public policy issues... but I believe that this electionis about the future of California and the direction that each candidate would lead it," said McClintock.

Davis' popularity plunged following the economic downturn and the end of the high-tech bubble, leading to huge state budget deficit, unemployment and reduced education allocations.

The Republicans in the state launched a signature-collection campaign early this year, which resulted in the success in holdingthe recall election as more than 1 million people signed up for recalling Davis.

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