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Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association files Lawsuit to correct false statements in Prop. 5
As reported in the Sacramento Courthouse News Service, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association filed a lawsuit (a Petition for Peremptory Writ of Mandate) in Sacramento County Superior Court. The suit challenges the wording of the condensed version of the title and summary of Proposition 5 on the November ballot (which would reduce the threshold for voter approval of certain types of bond measures from 66% to 55%).
Jon Coupal, the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association told the court,
“It is misleading because it withholds vital information from the voters, namely that it would reduce the current two-thirds vote approval requirement to 55% voter approval. Without this necessary information, a voter would likely be misled or confused as to whether Proposition 5 increases the voters' approval requirement from a simple majority vote to a 55% vote, rather than decreasing the voter approval requirement from two-thirds to 55%.”
Coupal asked the court to force the state to rewrite the ballot wording.
In response, the Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang issued an Order and Judgment granting the Petition For Peremptory Writ of Mandate and,
"...the Attorney General is ordered to amend the ballot label for Proposition 5 to include language clarifying that the measure will reduce the required voter approval percentage from two-thirds to 55% for the specified types of bonds."
California State Attorney General Ron Bonta has indicated that he will file an emergency petition for expedited appeal to the State Court of Appeals, in order to allow the false statements and misleading ballot language to remain, unchanged.
That our elected State Attorney General, who is sworn to uphold the law on behalf of all California residents would take this position, against the public's right to know and clarification of the facts, is unbelievable.
The Jarvis suit is not challenging the legitimacy of putting Prop. 5 on the ballot, but only asking the state be honest and forthright in explaining the consequences of this ballot measure to California voters.
Bob Silvestri is a long-time Mill Valley resident, the Editor of the Marin Post, and the founder and president of Community Venture Partners, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization dedicated to bringing the community's voice to government decision-making and funded exclusively by individuals and nonprofit donors. Please consider donating now to support our work.