California Ballot

Pat Buchanan is back to stay on California's presidential ballot as the Reform Party's nominee, the secretary of state decided Thursday. His name had been removed while election officials sorted out the conflict between Buchanan and his rival, John Hagelin. Hagelin will still appear on California's ballot but as the Natural Law Party's candidate. On Thursday at Natural Law's convention in Alexandria, Va.

Despite predictions from political organizers that massive numbers of Mexicans living in California would return to Mexico to vote in Sunday's presidential election, far fewer appeared to have made the trek. Those who did cross the border to vote had to stand in long lines beside Mexicans from other regions of their country who found themselves away from home on election day. Unlike the United States, Mexico has no legal provisions for absentee ballots or voting by mail.

Addressing renewed speculation about his political ambitions, actor Warren Beatty all but ruled out a run for the White House on Tuesday--though he left the door open just a crack. "I'm not a candidate," he said in a phone interview from New York. "I don't have a campaign. I have no organization. I have no campaign staff and no advisors."

While actor Warren Beatty has publicly indicated that he was uncertain he would run for president, he unsuccessfully tried to get on the first draft of the California primary ballot issued Monday by the secretary of state. According to a source familiar with Beatty's efforts, his emissary aggressively lobbied Secretary of State Bill Jones to get the actor on the ballot.

When it comes to ballot measures, California has a tradition: Tuesday is election day, Wednesday is lawsuit day. For years, litigation has invariably followed the state's parade of propositions, as angry foes seek to reverse the will of the voters. Time and time again they end up going to court. Proposition 103, Proposition 140, Proposition 187, Propositions 208 and 209--you name it, there has been a legal challenge filed against it.

Peter King wrote a wonderful column, "On Taking (Back) the Initiative" (Oct. 20), a succinct history of California's political device, the ballot initiative, and the confusing and deadly dull preelection required-reading assignment, the ballot pamphlet. King discloses the insidious invasion of vested interests into the process. He suggests how we can curb their self-serving appetites by following the sage ideas of Jim Shultz, founder of San Francisco's Democracy Center, to "develop a better voters guide" and for "fuller disclosure of major campaign contributors."

The "California civil rights initiative," which seeks an end to the state's affirmative action laws, was officially qualified for the Nov. 5 ballot Tuesday by Secretary of State Bill Jones. In a statement, Jones said his finding is based on a random sample analysis of more than 1 million signatures that proponents of the measure submitted in February. The initiative needed at least 693,230 valid signatures to qualify, and Jones said the analysis confirmed at least 770,484 names. Gov.

Should San Bernardino County build a huge dump to bury Southern California's trash--for the next 100 years? And should voters in Ventura ban tax breaks for developers--the kind of public subsidies used by governments across California to lure major league stadiums and shopping malls? Should Orange County overhaul its trouble-plagued government, including imposing term limits for supervisors? And should voters halt plans to turn the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport?

There will be no Son of Proposition 187 on the California ballot this fall. The so-called "Save Our State-2" initiative--crafted as a follow-up to Proposition 187--has failed to qualify for the November ballot, the California secretary of state's office confirmed Wednesday. Ron Prince, the Orange County activist who authored the proposal, did not submit any of the more than 433,000 signatures needed before last week's deadline, said Alfie Charles, a spokesman for Secretary of State Bill Jones.

With just four days to go, Ross Perot supporters plan to blitz California malls, beaches and pumpkin festivals this weekend in an effort to enlist enough voters to qualify the Texas billionaire's new political party for the state's 1996 election ballot. Perot faithful were optimistic that they would have the 89,007 required voters by the deadline--the end of the day Tuesday.