http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-redistrict13aug13,0,7790867.story?coll=la-home-headlines:grr:
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Supreme Court Allows Redistricting Initiative on November Ballot
California court hands Schwarzenegger a victory
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Supreme Court handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a major victory Friday, putting back on the Nov. 8 ballot his initiative to change how legislative district lines are drawn.
The brief order, issued by a 4-2 vote, ends a month-long legal battle between supporters of the initiative, Proposition 77, and Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The attorney general had won two rounds in lower courts. Those judges accepted his argument that the measure should not be voted on in November because its backers had violated election law in the way they got the measure on the ballot.
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The Supreme Court overturned those lower-court decisions. But it left open the possibility that the election-law violations could still sink the ballot measure. If the voters approve the measure, the justices said, they might then review the legal issues to determine if it is valid.
"The court hasn't ruled on the merits," said Lance Olson, a Sacramento attorney representing opponents of Proposition 77, "so we don't know if it's a valid initiative or not."
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In a statement released after the court's announcement, Schwarzenegger said he was "pleased" by the decision. "The people of California will have an opportunity to vote on Proposition 77 this November," he said.
The measure is designed to strip politics from the once-a-decade job of redrawing congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts to ensure that they contain roughly equal numbers of people.
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