NewsMax.com
Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003

"We are working to examine past records to ascertain what might explain gaps that appear in two election cycles when absentee ballots were requested," Walsh said. Aides further conjectured that ballots are sometimes rejected, not recorded by elections officials once they are received -- or his assistants could have neglected to mail them.

Records indicate that the Austrian immigrant and former world-class bodybuilder did not return absentee ballots for the 2000 general and primary elections after requesting them. This would translate into Schwarzenegger twice missing a chance to vote for President Bush.

Furthermore, records indicate Schwarzenegger did not vote in the June 1998 primary and missed both the 1996 primary and general elections, which included the presidential campaign of Republican Bob Dole and initiatives on medical marijuana and tax increases on the wealthy.

Green Party candidate Peter Camejo was quick to follow up on the voting revelations, saying, "Here's a guy who says he's going to lead, and he doesn't even have enough interest to vote. . . Bill Simon was the same way. I think voters care about whether people are serious about what they're saying."

Camejo’s reference to conservative Republican, Simon, who ran last year for governor and is running again on the recall ballot, concerned that candidate’s own spotty record -- not voting in 13 out of the past 20 elections.

Los Angeles County registrar of voter records do show that Schwarzenegger, a resident of Brentwood, voted in six of the statewide elections going back to 1992. That would include the 2002 primary and the general election, which included a successful ballot initiative he sponsored on after-school programs and the re-election of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

California Governors Race

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