HMMM...

So the leftwingnuts in California's Ninth Circuit have tied up the recall election for a while (pending appeals), on the notion that punch card machines somehow violate the 14th Amendment. Equal protection, etc.

Could this logic apply elsewhere? Could judges just keep delaying elections until every single county in the nation adopts the exact same voting system, and then create further delays if any flaw in that system turns up? What will this mean, if anything, in 2004?

On its face, the Ninth's actions look like a terrible and very dangerous decision.

MORE: I am stunned. I half expected Slate to come out firing this morning, and they did. But to my surprise, they didn't fire along narrow ideological lines--Will Saletan's column today is a must-read. He absolutely nails it, in Texas, in California, in Florida circa 2000.

(hat tip to Hanks)