Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  Politics,  Special Election 2005

California Special Election Watch: Schwarzenegger to Stay the Course

It was a GOOD day for California and for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Proposition 77, the redistricting constitutional amendment which was ordered off the California November special election ballot last week by Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian was reinstated (albeit, it may be briefly) when Justice Coleman A. Blease, of the 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed to stay Ohanesian’s order until the case could be decided.

Supporters of a ballot measure aimed at redrawing congressional and legislative districts filed an appeal Monday and were granted a temporary suspension of a lower court ruling that ordered Proposition 77 off the ballot.

The measure, one of three backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the November special election, would give authority for redrawing district boundaries to a panel of retired judges. But organizers of the petition drive mistakenly used two different versions in the circulation process prompting Sacramento County Judge Gail Ohanesian to toss the measure from the ballot last week.

But Justice Coleman A. Blease, of the 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed to stay Ohanesian’s order until the case could be decided.

Although not unexpected, the ruling allows the measure to be included in a public display of all the measures qualified for the Nov. 8 special election. Officials said the display is a largely procedural action intended to give counties official notice of what measures will be on the ballot.

Still, the measures backers drew some hope from the judge’s ruling.

“This is really a good sign,” said Bill Mundell chairman of Californians for Fair Redistricting, a group involved in gathering signatures to put the redistricting initiative on the ballot.

“We really feel that the legal precedent is firmly on the side of overlooking minor discrepancies,” he said.

There is no word yet on when the case will come before the court but Mundell said he believed it would be this week

And……………………………………..

Previous to the stay being announced for Proposition 77, the Governor announced that the special election would proceed with or without this measure. Reuters has Schwarzenegger to go ahead with special ballot.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday that he would go ahead with a special November election despite a court ruling casting aside one of the California governor’s three proposed ballot items.

A man who prides himself on not taking no for an answer, the Republican governor told journalists on Monday that he would move forward anyway with the vote, which includes measures on the budget and teacher pay that he hopes voters will back.

“I’m very happy to move forward with our reforms,” he said at an event aimed at promoting healthy diets in schools. “And I’m looking forward to really create the reforms that I’ve promised to the people of California and nothing is going to stand in my way to do that.”

The Governator is BACK!

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Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page.

One Comment

  • Kevin Murphy

    But organizers of the petition drive mistakenly used two different versions in the circulation process…

    Not true. That would be a far more serious problem.