Shelley

The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) sought, by a petition for writ of mandate, to compel the Secretary of State to include voters listed in the inactive file of registered voters in calculating whether PFP qualified to participate in the March 2002 primary election pursuant to Elections Code section 5100, subdivision (b). (Further section references are to the Elections Code unless otherwise specified.) Finding the Legislature has explicitly excluded such voters from the calculation (§ 2226, subd. (a)(2)), the superior court rejected PFP’s claims that so interpreting the statutory scheme violates federal constitutional and statutory law.

PFP appeals from the judgment denying its writ petition. Although the March 2002 primary election is long passed, the issue PFP raises is likely to recur in future elections and is a matter of continuing public interest and importance. Thus, we exercise our discretion to decide the issue on the merits, even though it is technically moot. (Burch v. George (1994) 7 Cal.4th 246, 253, fn. 4 [ 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 165 , 866 P.2d 92 ]; Lundquist v. Reusser (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1193, 1202, fn. 8 [ 31 Cal.Rptr.2d 776 , 875 P.2d 1279 ]; Libertarian Party v.…