Myers

The Elections Code requires that proponents of city initiative measures publish and file a “notice of intention” before circulating a signature petition (§§ 4002-4003) and that each section of the circulated petition bear a copy of the notice (§ 4004). (All statutory references will be to the Elections Code unless noted otherwise.)

Plaintiffs, proponents of a commercial rent control ordinance they sought to place on the November 1986 ballot in the City and County of San Francisco (city), failed to include the notice on their petition, and defendant Jay Patterson, the city’s registrar of voters, rejected the petition on that basis. Plaintiffs unsuccessfully sought writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1085) to compel defendant to accept and certify the petition, and this is their appeal from a superior court order denying a peremptory writ.

We will affirm.

Background

Plaintiffs’ measure, “The Commercial Rent Arbitration Initiative,” would have added a commercial rent stabilization and arbitration ordinance to the city’s administrative code if passed.

It is undisputed that plaintiffs complied with all pertinent Elections Code requirements except the petition notice…