Otsuka v. Hite

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment which upholds a refusal of defendant, Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, to register plaintiffs as voters. (Elec. Code, § 350.)

This case presents the difficult question whether bona fide conscientious objectors who pleaded guilty more than 20 years ago to a violation of the federal Selective Service Act can constitutionally be treated as persons convicted of an “infamous crime” and hence rendered ineligible to vote by article *599II, section 1, of the California Constitution.1 After reviewing the history and purpose of this ground of voter disqualification…