Edelstein

At the general election held on November 6, 1973, City of San Francisco voters approved Proposition D, a measure amending the election provisions of the City's charter to provide, in the event no mayoral candidate received a majority of the votes cast, for a runoff contest between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. (S.F.Charter, § 13.102.) Although the text of the measure does not expressly so provide, [1] as both a matter of local elections practice and in the opinion of the city attorney, Proposition D eliminated any right of a voter to "write in" on the ballot the name of a mayoral candidate, i.e., prohibited write-in voting for mayor.

This lawsuit by two plaintiffs—a would-be write-in candidate for mayor and a registered voter who supports his candidacy— was filed on the eve of the 1999 mayoral runoff election. Plaintiffs contend Proposition D burdens the unfettered right of electors to vote for candidates of their choice by writing in his or her name on the ballot and therefore runs afoul of the free speech provision of the California Constitution. (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd. (a).) As will appear, whatever our own predilections on…