Judge Removed Redistricting Reform/Anti-Gerrymandering Initiative from Ballot

KABC AM 790 Radio News | Thursday, July 21, 2005 | FraudFactor.com

[FraudFactor.com]

Judge Removes Redistricting Reform Initiative from California Ballot

According to KABC AM 790 radio news, a judge just removed Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform/Anti-Gerrymandering Initiative, from the ballot for the California Special Election to be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2005. This is the Redistricting Reform measure supported by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform/Anti-Gerrymandering Initiative, was the single most important initiative on the ballot to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse by California state government.

The reason cited was a violation of the California Constitution by using two different versions of the initiative in the qualifying process. That is, two different versions of the initiative appeared on different signature petition forms used to gather signatures of registered voters.

This is a major blow to California voters and tax payers who need relief from the massive political corruption and waste of tax dollars resulting from safe, non-competitive gerrymandered election districts that result when the incumbent politicians redraw their election district boundary lines.

The outcomes of the general election for most of California's 80 State Assembly seats, 20 of the 40 State Senate seats, and 53 Congressional seats are determined by the Primary Election, before the General Election, due to gerrymandered election district boundary lines. Also, the Democrat majority party ensures itself an artificially large super-majority due to gerrymandering.

Thus, California has suffered election theft every two years for many decades, and all voters of all parties suffer from nonresponsive entrenched politicians who instead cater to lobbyists and other special interests.

Safe gerrymandered election districts have allowed the Democrat super-majority in the California Legislature to ignore the 63 percent of the voters who voted for Proposition 22, defining marriage to be between one man and one woman. The Democrats legislators have enacted multiple laws giving the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same sex "domestic partners".

The money and time spent to qualify the initiative is lost.

More information on Proposition 77 is available at:
http://www.fraudfactor.com/#prop_77

More information on gerrymandering is available at:
http://www.fraudfactor.com/ffgerrymander.html

The text of the initiative can be found at:
https://www.fairdistricts.com/Initiative_Text.asp
and:
http://ag.ca.gov/initiatives/pdf/sa2004rf0037_amdt_1_ns.pdf

[FraudFactor.com]

This is a sad day for California and the nation.

I would think the proposition should stay on the ballot if there are sufficient signatures on forms with either one of the two versions of the initiative, or if the differences are nonsubstantive.

[PRND21]

Meanwhile, the anti-Arnold Bitter Brigade is treating this like good news.

[Argus]

California is a banana republic.

[rottndog]

The real question is who are the stupid morons who submitted the two different versions of the initiative? There's no excuse for incompetence. This was completely foreseeable and preventable.

Now we have to start again from scratch.

[SmithL]

Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure ordered off ballot

By STEVE LAWRENCE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SACRAMENTO - A Superior Court judge on Thursday kicked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure off the special election 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, Proposition 77, 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.

Daniel Kolkey, an attorney representing the measure's author -- Ted Costa -- argued that the differences between the two version were minor and stylistic.

Kolkey said that holding initiative proponents to a requirement that there be no differences between what is submitted to the attorney general for review and what is circulated to voters could invalidate a measure for a simple printing error.

Kolkey said he will appeal the ruling.

The ruling is a big setback for Schwarzenegger, whose ballot agenda has languished in the polls under almost constant criticism from rival Democrats and labor groups who are opposing his proposals.

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.

Some critics have said that the proponents of the redistricting measure should have more quickly disclosed the problems with the two versions of the petition.

"If you read the declarations carefully ... the proponents deliberately ran the clock out," said Deborah Caplan, an attorney representing the initiative opponents, who noted that the measure's backers knew for almost a month about the discrepancies.

[FraudFactor.com]

I don't know if there is enough time left to re-qualify the initiative for the November 8, 2005 Special Election.

This was the most important measure on the Special Election ballot.

[FormerACLUmember]

California is now completely lawless. Crooked judges forbid reform, murderers and pedophiles pay big celebrity money to escape justice, and California is home to the lawless 9th Circuit fedeal coart.

[FraudFactor.com]

Thank you for the news article.

"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."

I was under the impression that two different versions were circulated for signatures. The AP news report indicates one version of the imitative text was presented to Attorney General Bill Lockyer for his approval and summary, and another version was used with Lockyer's summary to collect signatures.

"Daniel Kolkey, an attorney representing the measure's author -- Ted Costa -- argued that the differences between the two version were minor and stylistic."

Attorney General Bill Lockyer is a partisan Democrat. If the initiative text differences would not have affected his initiative summary, then he should not have asked the judge to order the measure off the ballot.

"Kolkey said he will appeal the ruling."

Good. But I won't hold my breath.

[SierraWasp]

"Meanwhile, the anti-Arnold Bitter Brigade is treating this like good news."

I don't think that's exactly true... Of course none of those folks hang around FR anyway... right???

[NormsRevenge]

Ya get what ya pay for in California politics these days,, in spades, it would seem. ;-)

[tubebender]

I saw this coming 10 days ago. Did Lockjaw go Judge shopping?

[SierraWasp]

Don't Demonicrats and EnvironMentalists always go judge shopping? Stopping them from doing that would be like keeping desperate housewives out of Nordstroms!!! (oink!)

[SierraWasp]

Sumbudy's got a picshur up on the other thred of sum juiced up jurists. Could you fotoshop them up on a UNWANTED POSTER?

[A CA Guy]

I don't like it, but you have to ask "HOW STUPID ARE THE PROP 77 PEOPLE TO MAKE THAT MAJOR MISTAKE ON AN IMPORTANT ISSUE"? IMO, this might have been done on purpose.

[nothingnew]

I don't know much about this. I will say this: We have too many laws, too many lawyers and too many wingnut, make up the law judges.

BITS

I have updated my FMCDH (From My Cold Dead Hands) sign-off with the addition of (BITS).....Blood In The Streets, which I foresee coming soon, due to the enormous increase of the Marxist progressive movement being shoved down the throat of this failing REPUBLIC through the Judicial tyranny of fiat law, the passing of unconstitutional laws by the Legislative and Executive branches of our government and the enormous tax burden placed upon the average American to support unconstitutional programs put forth by Marxist ideology.

I do not advocate revolution. I only think of what I foresee.

FMCDH(BITS)

[editor-surveyor]

I find this really ironic that a judge removed a ballot measure that was going to give judges too much power.

If there's a lesson to be learned, it's that You cant trust judges

[editor-surveyor]

"California is a banana republic"

This, coming from a guy from Joizeee? :o)

[ken21]

the democrats would rather destroy arnold than make the state work out for the people.

the "party of the people" is the problema.

[Nachum]

There were a number of republicans and conservatives who were not for this measure at all. It is not clear it would have helped.

[FraudFactor.com]

I believe Proposition 77 would have provided a substantial improvement over the current extreme gerrymandering in California.

A stronger, even more effective initiative should be enacted. It would use a compactness metric (such as BOUNDARY^2 / AREA) to pass or fail each proposed district boundary.

Another approach is to require that maximally compact districts are drawn by minimizing the sum of the lengths of the district boundaries.

Ideally, a computer program would draw the districts to maximize compactness and ignore political party registration data, election return data, and other voter demographic data used by gerrymandering programs.

Take a look at the FraudFactor.com gerrymandering page at:
http://www.fraudfactor.com/ffgerrymander.html