Prop. 209 Foes Vow Suit Over Its Ballot Title and Summary

Opponents of the anti-affirmative action initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot--Proposition 209--accused Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Tuesday of failing to provide an impartial ballot title and summary, and promised to sue within 10 days to get it changed.

“The attorney general’s analysis is disappointing. We depend on his impartiality and this time he took sides,” said Pat Ewing, campaign manager for the opponents of the initiative. She said her group will file its challenge in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Proposition 209’s ballot title--released to the public Tuesday--is listed by Lungren’s office as a “‘prohibition against discrimination or preferential treatment by state and other public entities.” The title is followed by a short description of Proposition 209.

Lungren’s office defended the ballot language, but opponents faulted him for failing to spell out that the measure is intended to eliminate affirmative action programs for women and minorities in state college and university admissions, and in hiring and contracts by state and local governments.

Moreover, they said it reduces protections women have against discrimination.

In a prepared release, Ewing’s group said voters rely on the title and summary prepared by Lungren, and “for the attorney general to intentionally mislead the public in this way is a dereliction of duty.”

Lungren’s office, however, rejected the idea that it had taken sides on the controversial initiative.

Lungren’s spokesman, Steve Telliano, acknowledged that Lungren favors Proposition 209, but said the attorney general’s personal opinions do not influence the decisions of his deputies who prepare the ballot summaries.

“We explain what the initiative does in 100 words or less. With a very complex ballot initiative you can’t cover every nuance,” Telliano said.

He noted that the attorney general’s office is being sued regarding summaries and titles of eight initiatives, adding that “people seem to believe that if you don’t adopt their own opinion you are not being impartial.”

Telliano said he would not get into a blow-by-blow argument with critics of Proposition 209, saying that instead “we’ll let the court decide.”

Sean Walsh, Gov. Pete Wilson’s press secretary, defended Lungren’s handling of the ballot measure. Wilson is a staunch supporter of Proposition 209.

“The opponents of [Proposition 209] appear willing to stop at nothing to keep the citizens of California from exercising their constitutional right to vote on this initiative,” Walsh said, “including misleading the public about the content of the initiative and now impugning the integrity of the attorney general.”

Jennifer Nelson, spokeswoman for the pro-Proposition 209 campaign, said, ‘To tell you the truth, we are still reviewing the title and summary and the ballot arguments” made public by the secretary of state’s office Tuesday.

Even before the measure qualified for the ballot last April, it was shaping up to be one of the most controversial and closely watched ballot measures anywhere in the nation.

Not only is Wilson a major backer, but so is Bob Dole, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who has endorsed the measure.

The initiative has strong support among most Republican officeholders in California, and is supported by a large majority of the public, according to the most recent Los Angeles Times Poll.

But some high-profile Republicans oppose the measure.

Last week, for example, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan bucked the GOP establishment and came out against the measure.

Riordan said that, while he opposes preferences, quotas and set-asides, he is against Proposition 209 “because it is divisive.”