Norris

The plaintiffs in this case bring a First Amendment challenge to two requirements that the State of California and the City of Chula Vista, California, place on persons who wish to sponsor a local ballot measure: (1) the requirement that the official proponent of a ballot measure be an elector, thereby disqualifying corporations and associations from holding that position (“the elector requirement”); and (2) the requirement that the official proponent’s name appear on each section of the initiative petition that is circulated to voters for their signature (“the petition disclosure requirement”). We hold, as did the district court, that both requirements are plainly constitutional.

I.

This case arises from the plaintiffs’ efforts to place on the ballot what ultimately became Proposition G, an initiative prohibiting the City of Chula Vista from entering into Project Labor Agreements. Such agreements require that contractors hired by the city to build public works projects pay their employees a prevailing wage. The plaintiffs consist of Chula Vista residents Lori Kneebone and Larry Breitfelder; Chula Vista Citizens for Jobs and Fair Competition (“CVC”), an unincorporated…