June 19, 2006

"Judges to Rule on Use of English-Only Initiative Petitions"

"Federal challenges to English-only initiative petitions are roiling election officials across the state and have thrown into doubt a handful of citizen-spawned ballot issues.

The question is whether petitions circulated for signatures to qualify initiatives and referendums for the ballot must be translated for voters who speak another language.

California began providing Spanish-language ballots statewide in 2002, and local jurisdictions also provide multilingual election materials. But petitions, which are written by ordinary people hoping to change laws from the grass-roots level, are often available in English only.

Federal judges have disagreed on the question, resulting in disruptions to elections in Loma Linda, Santa Ana, Rosemead and Monterey. Today, a lawyer will ask U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins in Los Angeles to delay action on a challenge to a slow-growth initiative in Loma Linda until a federal appeals court issues a ruling.

"There's unfortunately so much uncertainty," said attorney Darryl Wold, who challenged the Loma Linda petitions. "No one knows what they need to do."

Multilingual petitions emerged as a legal question in Santa Ana, where prominent Latino activist Nativo Lopez challenged the English-only petitions that triggered his recall from the school board three years ago.

Lopez, backed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, had claimed the English-only petitions violated the Voting Rights Act. The federal legislation, passed in 1965, was the key to expanding the franchise to voters regardless of race. It is a centerpiece of the American civil rights movement.

Lopez and his supporters also argued that the petitions tricked voters in overwhelmingly Latino Santa Ana to sign on to his ouster. Lopez, who was recalled by 70% of the voters, lost in every city precinct, said Audrey Yamagata-Noji, president of the board of education for the Santa Ana Unified School District.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals eventually ruled that petitions had to be printed in languages that voters can understand.

"Everybody and their brother is using this opinion," said John Trasviña, interim head of MALDEF. "We're talking about carrying out the basic principles of the democracy: There's one election system for all citizens and all peoples."

Opponents say the only real effect of requiring translated petitions will be to make it more difficult for citizens who want to directly change government through the initiative process."

Posted by Randy Riddle at June 19, 2006 09:15 AM