EDC Seeks Judicial Clarification Validity of Proposed Ballot Measure

Published on March 11, 2026

El Dorado County Seeks Judicial Clarification Regarding Validity of Proposed Ballot Measure

(PLACERVILLE, CA) — El Dorado County filed a complaint February 26^th with the Superior Court of the County of El Dorado seeking the Court’s ruling on the invalidity of a proposed ballot initiative.

The proposed initiative would limit the Board of Supervisors’ constitutional discretion to determine employee compensation.  The proposed initiative was filed with the County Elections office on February 13^th to begin the process of circulating the initiative for placement on the ballot. Under state law, County Counsel must review and prepare the ballot Title and Summary within 15 days of the submittal of the proposed initiative.

Concerned that the proposed initiative unconstitutionally infringes on the Board’s exclusive authority to set employee compensation, the County Counsel’s Office attempted to informally resolve the issue with the measure’s proponents.  The intent was to avoid expending considerable and unnecessary time and resources in the circulation of a potentially unconstitutional and invalid initiative that would be misleading to the public and cause voter confusion.

“We believe case law and other legal authority clearly demonstrates this is invalid under the California Constitution and had hoped to resolve this matter informally with the proponents, but without their voluntary withdrawal of the petition, we are left with no choice than to ask the Court to clarify whether the proposed initiative is valid and defer to its ruling and proceed accordingly,” Janeth SanPedro, Assistant County Counsel, said.

Under these circumstances, state law requires the County to file a complaint for declaratory relief naming the proponents of the initiative as defendants.

A copy of the Complaint for Declaratory Relief can be found here(PDF, 3MB). 

###

"Exceptional quality of life with a strong sense of community, historic heritage, rural character, managed growth, and opportunity for all."