n By Matt King Staff Writer
Gilroy – Local Democrats applauded a legal decision that will keep Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s redistricting efforts off the November ballot.
“I think this was a sound ruling,” said Gilroy’s Assembly member, Simón Salinas, D-Salinas. “They rushed to put this on the ballot and there were questions of integrity.”
Thursday, A Sacramento superior court judged erased Proposition 77 from the ballot, ruling that supporters violated California’s constitution by using two versions of the initiative in the qualifying process.
“The differences are not simply typographical errors,” Judge Gail Ohanesian said. “They’re not merely about the format of the measure. They are not simply technical. Instead they go to the substantive terms of the measure.”
The proposal is one of three initiatives that the Republican governor is supporting in the Nov. 8 special election.
It would take the power to draw legislative and congressional districts away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of three retired judges.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the judge to order the measure off the ballot because its supporters used two versions – one to gather voter signatures and another that they gave to him to prepare a title and summary of the proposal to use on petitions.
There are 11 reported discrepancies in the two measures. One version uses the word “select” to describe how the judges will be chosen while the other uses the word “nominate.”
There is also a difference of one day in the amount of time legislators will have to pick the judges.
“The ruling upholds the integrity of the initiative process,” State Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose, said. “Voters signed a petition based on information that isn’t going to be on the ballot. Whether it was intentional or not, I don’t know, but the important point is that voters were misled.”
Daniel Kolkey, an attorney representing the measure’s author, Ted Costa, of the People’s Advocate, argued that the differences between the two version were minor and stylistic.
Kolkey said he will appeal the ruling.
If the judge’s ruling stands, Schwarzenegger and his supporters will be forced to go before voters with just two ballot measures: a complex plan for imposing new limits on state spending and a proposal that would lengthen the probationary period for public school teachers before they are granted tenure.
Salinas said he will support redistricting if it happens after a lengthy public outreach effort and the 2010 census.
“We need to get public input and come up with something that makes sense and is fair that ultimately keeps in mind communities of interest, both geographically and for minorities,”
