SACRAMENTO — Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer asked a court Friday to remove an initiative backed by the governor from the November special election ballot, saying the petitions voters signed were "substantially different" from what the attorney general had approved.
The initiative, sanctioned for the ballot by more than 950,000 people who signed the petitions, would change how congressional and legislative districts are drawn, shifting the job from lawmakers to a panel of judges.
Lockyer, a Democrat, sued Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson in Sacramento Superior Court in an effort to force McPherson to take the measure, Proposition 77, off the ballot.
The version of the initiative that voters signed is different in 11 places from the petition approved by Lockyer, a review of the two documents shows.
Promoters of the initiative said they had accidentally sent the wrong version to the printer before they began gathering signatures.
"Regardless of whether the error was intentional or not, the use of different initiatives cannot be condoned or tolerated," Lockyer said in a statement. "Permitting proponents to change a measure after issuance of the title and summary would open the door to 'bait and switch' tactics."
The lawsuit is the latest political and legal problem to plague an initiative promoted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He delayed an overhaul of the state's public pension system after Lockyer determined it would end death and disability benefits for public safety workers, and he dropped another initiative to pay teachers based on merit
Under the law, the attorney general, the state legislative analyst and the Department of Finance must review all initiatives before signature-gathering can begin.
Lockyer issued a title for the redistricting initiative and a 100-word summary on Feb. 3, and proponents of the measure eventually submitted 950,000 signatures.
The initiative qualified for the ballot on June 10 -- a few days before initiative backers informed McPherson of the problem.
The major political parties object to the redistricting initiative because it would end their ability to draw election districts favorable to their own members. Schwarzenegger has said he wants an independent approach, to eliminate the ability of incumbents to win reelection without competition -- part of a four-item agenda he unveiled in January.
