Bill Limiting Ballot Pamphlet Attacks Vetoed

Gov. George Deukmejian’s office Monday announced the veto of a bill that would have prohibited candidates for a nonpartisan local office from attacking their opponents in the sample ballot pamphlet.

In a veto message to the author, Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte), the governor expressed concern that the legislation would impose “an unnecessary restraint on freedom of speech in the electoral process.”

He said such information as a candidate’s voting record is “proper” for inclusion in the ballot pamphlet. “This type of measure could prevent this type of information from being factually presented to the voters,” Deukmejian said.

Traditionally, a candidate’s statement in the pamphlet for a nonpartisan local office such as a city council seat has been limited to biographical information and an outline of what the contender wants to accomplish.

However, the bill, opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, stemmed from the 1986 election for mayor of El Monte, in which the pamphlet was used for a personal attack. Challenger Jim Marin charged in the pamphlet that Mayor Donald McMillen supported spending $6 million to remodel City Hall and allowed his wife to fly to Mexico at city expense.

The mayor denied the claims, asserting that only $2.7 million was approved for the renovation project, and he said he paid all of his wife’s travel expenses except for one trip to a local government conference at Rancho Bernardo. McMillen easily won reelection.