SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Three civil rights groups and two legislative committees have jumped into a fight over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to change the way legislative and congressional districts are drawn in California.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the William C. Velasquez Institute and the Congress on Racial Equality Legal Defense Fund filed lawsuits Wednesday challenging the placement of Schwarzenegger's proposal on the Nov. 8 special election ballot.
Meanwhile, the Senate and Assembly elections committees announced a joint hearing next month on a controversy surrounding signature gathering to qualify the initiative, Proposition 77, for the ballot.
Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, characterized the lawsuits and the hearing as attempts by "opponents of reform" to sidetrack the measure.
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