Barnes

Does mandamus lie to compel a registrar of voters to accept for filing a ballot argument that a voter tried to file more than five hours after the widely publicized filing deadline? Invoking, among other things, the public interest in providing voters with a balanced statement of positions on the proposed ballot measure, the superior court concluded it did and commanded Germaine Q. Wong, the Registrar of Voters for the City and County of San Francisco (City), to accept the late filing and include it in the voter information pamphlet. She did; the election has since come and gone. We decide the merits of the appeal because the public interest in the proper administration of preelection procedures is substantial as is the probability that the issue will surface again. (Mann v. Superior Court (1986) 181 Cal.App.3d 372, 374 [ 226 Cal.Rptr. 263 ]; Save Stanislaus Area Farm Economy v. Board of Supervisors (1993) 13 Cal.App.4th 141, 147-148 [ 16 Cal.Rptr.2d 408 ].)

I. Background

A. General

Under our state Constitution, chartered cities such as San Francisco look to their charters, rather than the general law, as the source of authority for procedures governing submission of…