Proposition 8 to Protect Marriage Seeks Appeal of Prejudicial Language on Ballot Title & Summary
Attorney General Attempts to Slant Election toward Opponents of Proposition 8
August 08, 2008
Contact: Jennifer Kerns, 916-446-2956
Sacramento --- Proposition 8 and ProtectMarriage.com will seek an appeal today in response to the Sacramento Superior Court’s decision to deny their writ requesting that prejudicial language assigned to the Ballot Title & Summary by Attorney General Jerry Brown be changed. While agreeing that Brown’s language could have been better and more completely drafted, the Superior Court found that the law gives the Attorney General discretion to rewrite ballot titles and summaries. “The language in the Ballot Title & Summary for Proposition 8 is argumentative and seeks to negatively affect voters,” said Andrew Pugno, legal counsel for Proposition 8. “Since the Superior Court would not exercise its authority to protect voters against misleading language, we will ask the Appellate Court to do so.” The California Election Code states that a ballot measure must receive an impartial statement. The Attorney General recently changed the ballot title & summary for Proposition 8, raising questions about the impartiality and fairness of the language. “We believe the Attorney General has attempted to influence voters against this measure,” said Pugno. “It is our goal to ensure that voters have a fair opportunity to decide this measure for themselves on Election Day.” In a review of the past 50 years of ballot measures, this is the only initiative among 250 initiatives that an Attorney General has assigned a negative verb for its Title & Summary. Proponents of Proposition 8 will file an Appeal today. They note that the measure simply seeks to restore the definition of marriage back to its original meaning of the previous 158 years of California statehood. For more information, visit www.ProtectMarriage.com.
