Following up on this post, I have learned that the supporters of the Monterey general plan initiative have filed this emergency motion seeking a stay of the district court’s order removing a measure from the June ballot on grounds that the failure to circulate initiative petitions in Spanish violates the Voting Rights Act. The effect of the stay would be to place the measure on the ballot.
I hope this motion will interest the 9th circuit in this issue, perhaps getting them to grant en banc review in the Padilla case and issuing an order in the interim allowing pending ballot measures to go forward. Without such an order soon, it is no exaggeration to say that the California initiative process could be thrown into chaos.