CA judge removes Schwarzenegger’s redistricting plan from referendum ballot News
CA judge removes Schwarzenegger’s redistricting plan from referendum ballot

[JURIST] California Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian removed Proposition 77 [proposition text], a redistricting plan by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [official profile], from the November 7 state ballot Thursday, holding that supporters violated California's constitution by using two significantly different versions during the qualifying process. Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official profile] told the court that the version used to gather voter signatures to put the measure on the ballot was significantly different from the version submitted to the Attorney General's office for review. California's Constitution [text] requires that before signatures can be gathered, the proposed initiative must be given to the Attorney General's office for a title and 100-word summary, which is included on the document voters sign. The two documents had at least 11 differences, but the bill's author argues the differences are primarily stylistic and did not affect the prepared summary. Proposition 77 removes the power to draw legislative and congressional districts from the legislature and assigns it to a panel of three retired judges. The University of California has in-depth coverage of California redistricting. NBC4.tv has more.