Songstad v. Superior Court

Opinion

McDONALD, J.

We here decide whether a voter who opposes a proposed countywide initiative may prevent proponents of that initiative from collecting the signatures needed to qualify it for the ballot based on a contention that the title and summary of the initiative prepared by a county counsel are not impartial or accurate.

I

Background

Before proponents of a countywide initiative may begin collecting signatures to qualify it for the ballot, the proponents must first file the text of the proposed initiative with the county elections official and request that a ballot “title and summary” be…