Wilson Sues to Block Motor Voter Measure : Courts: Governor moves to ban law providing registration as part of driver’s license applications and renewals until U.S. pays for implementation. He claims it infringes on states’ rights.

Gov. Pete Wilson escalated his states’ rights war against the Clinton Administration on Tuesday by filing a lawsuit to stop a new federal voter registration law from taking effect in California until Washington comes up with the money to finance the program.

The suit--Wilson vs. United States of America--was filed on behalf of the Republican governor by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

A coalition of voting rights groups brought legal action of their own in federal court in San Jose on Thursday, seeking to force the governor to implement the National Voter Registration Act, commonly referred to as the motor voter law, as scheduled on New Year’s Day.

But Wilson challenged the constitutionality of the act, saying that it infringes on the rights of states as provided in the 10th Amendment.

The governor said in a statement Tuesday that the law seeks to impose a new legal duty on California without providing the money to pay for it.

“It is simply wrong and unfair, and the law is on our side,” he said.

The motor voter bill, long sought by Democrats as a means of expanding the national voter pool, passed Congress last year and was signed into law by President Clinton. The measure establishes a variety of procedures by which state officials must offer citizens a convenient opportunity to register to vote.

Wilson has estimated that it would cost the state more than $35 million a year to implement the law, although acting Secretary of State Tony Miller said Tuesday that it could be done for $5 million.

In the end, the figure is immaterial, said Miller, a Democrat who leaves office in January.

“It’s a matter of federal law,” he said.

One of the most far-reaching provisions requires that a voter registration form be sent to each motorist along with an application for a driver’s license or license renewal. The law also requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to pass along changes of address to voter registration officials.

A major cause of ineligibility is that people forget they have to re-register to vote when they move, even if it is within the same town or precinct.

The law also requires voter registration opportunities to be offered through welfare offices, state tax agencies and the state Department of Rehabilitation.

In Washington, Myron Marlin, a Justice Department spokesman, said officials could not comment on the contents of Wilson’s lawsuit because it had not been read yet.

“But we respect Congress’ intent to make it easier for all Americans to exercise their right to register and vote, and hope that others would too,” Marlin said.

Wilson has already warred with Washington, suing to get the state compensated for up to $3 billion a year that Wilson says the state must pay for services to illegal immigrants. That cost is a federal responsibility, he has argued. Proposition 187, which has been suspended pending a trial on its validity, seeks to halt virtually all state aid to illegal immigrants.

In August, Wilson served notice that he would implement the motor voter law only to the extent allowed by the availability of federal money. The lawsuit says that the state expects to get some federal money, but not nearly enough to cover the full cost of implementation.

Times staff writer James R. Bornemeier in Washington contributed to this report.