California: Monterey Co. removes Measure from ballot because of lack of Spanish initiative petitions
The Monterey Herald reports: Monterey County supervisors, despite a barrage of personal barbs, decided Tuesday to remove Measure C, a ballot measure regarding the controversial Rancho San Juan development, from the county's June ballot.
The 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Dave Potter dissenting, sets up a new round of lawsuits over a blossoming conflict between county land-use policies and compliance with Spanish-language requirements of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Besides the supervisors' vote to pull the Measure C referendum off the ballot, there were other developments Tuesday on the litigation front:
• Two county Latinos filed a federal lawsuit challenging Measure C because supporters of the ballot measure didn't circulate referendum petitions in both English and Spanish.
Their suit mirrors almost exactly a case decided last week by U.S. District Court Judge James Ware, who ruled the controversial General Plan Initiative, which qualified for the ballot after another petition drive, violated minority language requirements of the Voting Rights Act. -- Monterey County Herald | 03/29/2006 | Board braces for Measure C fight