Redistricting reform: It never rains but it pours


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting proposal isn't having a very easy time of it.

And the measure seems to be taking it from all sides.

While scurrilous pseudo-journalists on the left (e.g., me) criticize its questionable motivation and lack of justification, nonpartisan experts focus on its practical flaws. Just three weeks after the initiative officially went on the fall 2005 ballot, a majority of California voters oppose it.

Now it appears that those voters might not even have a chance to register their disapproval: Irregularities in the way that signatures were gathered may disqualify the measure from the ballot altogether. (In brief: The version of the initiative that was approved by the Attorney General's office is not identical to the one that appeared on circulated petitions.)

According to Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog, from a legal perspective the matter is quite serious.
The question whether the initiative should be disqualified from appearing on the ballot appears to turn on whether the petitions were in "substantial compliance" with California law. Although backers of the initiative claim that it is, I am not so sure.

Here is a useful statement of the substantial compliance doctrine, from Ruiz v. Sylva, 102 Cal.App.4th 199 (2002): ...

[snipped]

From what I know of the distinctions between the actual text and circulated text of the initiative, it appears, especially under precedents like Mervyn's, that the courts would well hold the initiative should be disqualified.


We'll be following the case carefully, needless to say. One wonders whether Arnold might prefer it if his pet project got disqualified on a technicality rather than facing outright defeat at the polls.

For more background on the issue, here are links to some of our earlier coverage.

• Experts agree: Schwarzenegger's redistricting plan is seriously flawed
• WaPo on California redistricting: A little piece of broken logic
• Republican SecState opposes Schwarzenegger on redistricting
• Redistricting out the democracy
• "Drunks with an Etch-a-Sketch"
• If it ain't broke...

Posted: Fri - July 8, 2005 at 07:31 AM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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