Sonoma County Nuclear Free Zone '86 v. Superior Court

The proponents of the Sonoma County Nuclear Free Zone Initiative filed this petition for extraordinary relief two months prior to the general election of November 4,1986. They sought a writ compelling respondent superior court to set aside its peremptory writ of mandate which directed the Sonoma County Clerk (Clerk) to accept for filing ballot arguments against the initiative which had been submitted by Citizens Against Nuclear Free Zone Initiative (Con-NFZ) after the statutory filing deadline had expired. The petition was filed just before the Sonoma County sample ballots were to be delivered to the printer, and requested immediate relief from this court to prevent the printing of the late arguments on the ballot forms.

We concluded the petition raised issues of colorable merit concerning implementation of Elections Code section 3784 and the process of filing ballot arguments for and against county initiatives. Yet, we were unwilling to interfere with the electoral process by the issuance of an order or writ affecting the ballot printing process. We were likewise disinclined to resolve important legal questions under severe time pressures, when the effect of issuing a…