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Interview With Kevin Shelly

Aired August 11, 2003 - 15:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: With such a huge list of candidates vying to be the next governor of California, getting the names on the ballot is a chore in itself. No one understands, or at least is coming to understand that, better than Kevin Shelley, California Secretary of State. His office is drawing up the randomized alphabet for how the names will appear. He joins us now from Sacramento.
Mr. Secretary, how are you going to pull this off, and do you have the technology and the wherewithal? Many counties saying they have to go back to a paper ballot. How do you pull something like this off without fraud or trouble or problems?

KEVIN SHELLEY, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, about 50 percent of the voting jurisdictions will be using a paper ballot. And to the extent that there have been problems in the past with paper ballots, we're going to be sending down monitors into those jurisdictions to ensure there are no problems on Election Day or before.

Having said that, our county registrars in the state are extraordinary. And I have great confidence in their ability to do this. You know, the normal timetable to prepare an election is anywhere from four and a half to six months. This is only two and a half months, so it's a very expedited schedule. And we've got a challenge, but we'll overcome those challenges.

KING: How much is this going to cost the state in your estimation?

SHELLEY: The upper end estimation at this point is $66 million. And clearly that's costly. One of my announcements today was that I'm going to be asking the legislature to reimburse the counties for their costs because to the extent that they have police services, fire services, other local needs, I think it is very important that those not be overtaxed because of this.

KING: And when will you know the actual final number of candidates? You're up to 90 something right now. When will you know?

SHELLEY: Well, we have 195 who at this point submitted papers on Saturday to the counties. We've got approximately 100 now who have been deemed qualified to vote. And we expect that to rise over the course of the next several days as we're just going through their paperwork. Wednesday, on the 13th, at the close of business, we have to make the final determination and then certify those candidates for the ballot. KING: And what will this ballot look like if you have to put that many names on the ballot? How long will it be? How will a voter now how to find who they're looking for?

SHELLEY: Well, you know the first question on the first page will be, shall Gray Davis be recalled as governor? And then yes or no. Then you turn the page, and then the other candidates will be there.

Clearly, this is the longest ballot that there's ever been for a single election in California's history. So that presents a challenge. And it really depends on the different voting jurisdictions.

You know, a couple use the touch-screen system, the new ATM style. And that's the direction we're moving in across the state and indeed across the country. That's very simple. But for those that use the old punch-card systems, it is a greater challenge if they have multiple cards.

And clearly we want to ensure that there aren't those problems. And that's why we're in constant touch with the registrars.

KING: All right. Kevin Shelley, California Secretary of State. Thank you for your time today.

SHELLEY: Great -- thank you.

KING: And I hope we can have you back in the next two months.

SHELLEY: Happy to.

KING: Monumental job. Good luck, sir.

SHELLEY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 11, 2003 - 15:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: With such a huge list of candidates vying to be the next governor of California, getting the names on the ballot is a chore in itself. No one understands, or at least is coming to understand that, better than Kevin Shelley, California Secretary of State. His office is drawing up the randomized alphabet for how the names will appear. He joins us now from Sacramento.
Mr. Secretary, how are you going to pull this off, and do you have the technology and the wherewithal? Many counties saying they have to go back to a paper ballot. How do you pull something like this off without fraud or trouble or problems?

KEVIN SHELLEY, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, about 50 percent of the voting jurisdictions will be using a paper ballot. And to the extent that there have been problems in the past with paper ballots, we're going to be sending down monitors into those jurisdictions to ensure there are no problems on Election Day or before.

Having said that, our county registrars in the state are extraordinary. And I have great confidence in their ability to do this. You know, the normal timetable to prepare an election is anywhere from four and a half to six months. This is only two and a half months, so it's a very expedited schedule. And we've got a challenge, but we'll overcome those challenges.

KING: How much is this going to cost the state in your estimation?

SHELLEY: The upper end estimation at this point is $66 million. And clearly that's costly. One of my announcements today was that I'm going to be asking the legislature to reimburse the counties for their costs because to the extent that they have police services, fire services, other local needs, I think it is very important that those not be overtaxed because of this.

KING: And when will you know the actual final number of candidates? You're up to 90 something right now. When will you know?

SHELLEY: Well, we have 195 who at this point submitted papers on Saturday to the counties. We've got approximately 100 now who have been deemed qualified to vote. And we expect that to rise over the course of the next several days as we're just going through their paperwork. Wednesday, on the 13th, at the close of business, we have to make the final determination and then certify those candidates for the ballot. KING: And what will this ballot look like if you have to put that many names on the ballot? How long will it be? How will a voter now how to find who they're looking for?

SHELLEY: Well, you know the first question on the first page will be, shall Gray Davis be recalled as governor? And then yes or no. Then you turn the page, and then the other candidates will be there.

Clearly, this is the longest ballot that there's ever been for a single election in California's history. So that presents a challenge. And it really depends on the different voting jurisdictions.

You know, a couple use the touch-screen system, the new ATM style. And that's the direction we're moving in across the state and indeed across the country. That's very simple. But for those that use the old punch-card systems, it is a greater challenge if they have multiple cards.

And clearly we want to ensure that there aren't those problems. And that's why we're in constant touch with the registrars.

KING: All right. Kevin Shelley, California Secretary of State. Thank you for your time today.

SHELLEY: Great -- thank you.

KING: And I hope we can have you back in the next two months.

SHELLEY: Happy to.

KING: Monumental job. Good luck, sir.

SHELLEY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com