Petition Language at Center of Disputes

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 Trasvina, 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.

Although the challenges have centered on getting petitions translated into Spanish, the voting act dictates that election materials be translated into foreign languages if 5% of the voting-age population speaks a language other than English. In polyglot Southern California, this could be a cumbersome and expensive proposition.

Ballots, registration forms and other election materials are now provided in at least two languages in 25 counties in California. Los Angeles prints ballots in seven languages, the most in the state, and is preparing to add three more.

A multilingual requirement in Los Angeles County would “add time delays, be more costly and complex,” said Conny McCormack, the county’s registrar-recorder/clerk .

“There is the potential for misinterpretation and legal challenges to the wording,” McCormack said. “It’s certainly not going to be simple, if this ends up being a legal requirement.”

The 9th Circuit, however, decided to stay the first decision and submit the question to a larger panel for reconsideration. The Orange County Registrar of Voters, the main defendant in the Santa Ana case, argues that federal law does not cover purely private signature gathering.

“We believe the Voting Rights Act does not apply to petitions circulated by private individuals who are exercising their democratic rights,” said Wendy Phillips, deputy county counsel who will speak for Orange County on Thursday in appellate court.

MALDEF chief Trasvina has a different view.

“The reason why the petitions, particularly in California where there are so many -- the recall of the governor, for example -- the reason why they’re so important is that they’re so much a part of the political system.

“They should not be reserved for the English speaking,” Trasvina said.

In Loma Linda, Collins invalidated petitions bearing more than 1,300 signatures that supported a slow-growth proposition because they were presented in English only. Loma Linda has about 2% Spanish speakers.

Initiative backers, however, have asked her to reconsider while the appeals court rethinks its decision. Arguments are scheduled for Thursday in San Francisco.