Ni v. Slocum

Opinion

MARGULIES, J.

To qualify an initiative measure for the election ballot, its proponents must submit to county elections officials a petition endorsed by *1641a statutorily specified number of eligible voters. Initiative petition endorsement is ordinarily a pen-and-paper affair. Proponents of a recent initiative to legalize marijuana, however, submitted to respondent Warren Slocum, the chief elections officer of San Mateo County (the County), a digital memory device containing an electronic image of an initiative petition. The petition contained a single signature, that of Michael Ni…