A geyser of voter participation in the Oct. 7 recall election -- nearly 500,000 absentee ballots have already been cast -- has slowed to a dribble since Monday's federal appellate court ruling postponing the election until March. Elections officials around the state say there has been a dramatic drop in absentee balloting and voter registrations. The numbers had been about what elections officials see for a regular statewide election for governor -- a level they consider extraordinary in light of the strange, off-year timing of the recall election. "I think people think the election has been called off, and it...