Costa

*994 Opinion

This case arises from a legal challenge to Proposition 77, an initiative measure that was submitted to California voters at the November 8, 2005, special statewide election. The underlying challenge to the measure was brought after circulation of the initiative petition was completed but prior to the Secretary of State’s submission of the ballot pamphlet materials to the State Printer, and sought to have the measure withheld from the ballot because of several differences between the version of the measure that was submitted to the Attorney General prior to the circulation of the initiative petition, and the version printed on the petition that subsequently was circulated for signature. The trial court and the Court of Appeal (in a two-to-one decision) concluded that the discrepancies between the two versions warranted withholding the measure from the ballot, but this court, acting on an expedited basis prior to the Secretary of State’s submission of the ballot pamphlet materials to the printer, granted review, determined that the discrepancies in question did not justify withholding the measure from the ballot, and directed the Secretary of State to include in the…

I concur in the majority’s holdings that: (1) Preelection judicial review of a challenge to an initiative measure is appropriate when the challenge is based on a claim that the measure does not comply with procedural requirements necessary to qualify *1031 the matter for the ballot; (2) our state Constitution and statutes require that the version of a proposed initiative submitted by its proponents to the state Attorney General be the same as the version circulated to the public for signatures sufficient to qualify the initiative for placement on the ballot; and (3) the doctrine of substantial compliance applies to procedural challenges to initiative measures.

I dissent, however, from the majority’s conclusion that here the proponents of Proposition 77 substantially complied with the constitutional and statutory requirements that a copy of the proposed initiative be provided to the Attorney General before the proposal is circulated to the public for signatures. Like the trial court and the Court of Appeal, I conclude that to substantially comply with the constitutional and statutory provisions, a party wishing to circulate a proposed initiative must give the Attorney General a…

I concur in the judgment dismissing the case as moot. As the majority acknowledges, the applicable rules of law generally do not permit us to invalidate an initiative measure the voters have adopted on account of procedural errors in the measure’s qualification that are not claimed to have affected the fairness of the vote. (See maj. opn., ante, at p. 1007.) Consequently, the court’s order of August 12, 2005, placing Proposition 77 on the ballot—a ruling in which I did not participate—rendered the case moot as a practical matter even before the voters rejected the initiative. Language in the August 12 order purporting to reserve *1039 jurisdiction to decide the case after the election could not and did not change the rule against granting postelection relief on preelection procedural grounds. Because the matter is moot, I do not join in the majority’s extensive obiter dicta on the question whether the court’s August 12 ruling was correct.

*1040 Appendix

The following sets forth the differences between the December 6 and December 3 versions of the initiative measure. The language of the December 3 version that the December 6 version proposed to delete is set forth in…

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Manuel M. Medeiros, State Solicitor General, James M. Humes, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Louis R. Mauro, Assistant Attorney General, Richard M. Frank, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Christopher E. Krueger, Leslie R. Lopez, Douglas J. Woods, Zackery P. Morazzini, Vickie P. Whitney and Susan K. Leach, Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party in Interest Bill Lockyer.

Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, Deborah B. Caplan, Lance H. Olson, Sacramento, and Richard C. Miadich, for Real Party in Interest Californians for Fair Representation-No on 77.

Knox, Lemmon and Anapolsky, Thomas S. Knox, Angela Schrimp de La Vergne and Glen C. Hansen, Sacramento, for Real Party in Interest Bruce McPherson, Secretary of State.

Linda A. Cabatic, Sacramento, for Real Party in Interest Geoff Brandt, Acting State Printer for the State of California.

GEORGE, C.J.

This case arises from a legal challenge to Proposition 77, an initiative measure that was submitted to California voters at the November 8, 2005, special statewide election. The underlying challenge to the measure was brought after circulation of the initiative petition was completed but prior to the Secretary of…