Smoking Initiative Faces Legal Test : Elections: Acting secretary of state seeks permission to find whether people were misled into signing petitions for the ballot measure backed by tobacco giant Philip Morris. Opponents call the move political grandstanding.

Contending that there is reason to believe that tobacco giant Philip Morris “engaged in a systematic scheme of deception” to gain signatures for a statewide smoking initiative, acting Secretary of State Tony Miller filed legal action Wednesday that could lead to disqualification of the ballot measure.

In what he says is an unprecedented step, Miller asked the Superior Court in Sacramento to give him permission to question a sampling of voters who signed the initiative petition to determine whether they were deliberately misinformed.

The ballot measure would abolish all local smoking bans and replace them with a looser, statewide standard.

A spokesman for the Philip Morris-financed Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions argued that Miller’s action was unconstitutional and that he was grandstanding to give him an advantage over his opponents in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

“It is blatantly clear that this is a fairly desperate attempt to call attention to himself in his campaign for secretary of state,” said Lee H. Stitzenberger, whose firm, the Dolphin Group, represents the smoking initiative committee, Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions.

One of Miller’s primary opponents, former Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo, agreed.

“There is the appearance that (Miller) continues to use the office to advance his campaign goals that could have been avoided by waiting until after the election,” said Woo’s campaign manager, Steven Glazer.

Miller said politics played no part in his decision to go to court this week; that he needed to act quickly to get the matter settled by June 30, the deadline for certifying measures for the November ballot.

Miller’s action was hailed by anti-smoking forces. Carolyn Martin, chairwoman of the Coalition for a Healthy California, said “a scientific survey will prove that a least half of those who signed the tobacco industry petition were duped or signed under false pretenses.”

Since 1972, when signers of an initiative to legalize marijuana said they were being harassed by police, state law has protected the confidentiality of names on initiatives, referendums and recall petitions. They can be checked for accuracy by county election officials, but may be inspected for other purposes only with court approval.

Miller wants the court to allow him to identify 400 or more randomly selected signers, who would be asked to describe what they were told by signature gatherers.

Documents released by Miller show that paid signature gatherers were told not to deviate from two pitches made to potential signers--that the petition imposed “statewide smoking restrictions” and that it increased penalties for selling tobacco to minors.

The hired workers were apparently not to tell voters the initiative would strike down local smoking ordinances that were stronger than the new law or that Phillip Morris was the sponsor.

The smoking initiative committee’s financial statements show that Philip Morris provided $491,213 to qualify the measure. A smattering of bars and restaurants, including Willy’s Lounge in Pomona and the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, provided the rest, a total of $480.

Miller said that if he establishes that there was deception, he would ask the court to invalidate the ballot measure under a statute barring circulators from misrepresenting the contents of an initiative petition.

The initiative committee has gathered 607,000 signatures to place the measure on the November ballot. It takes 423,473 to qualify. Election officials in each county, who by law have access to the names, are now determining the validity of the signatures.