Bad Day for Arnold

What a loser:

SACRAMENTO – A Superior Court judge on Thursday kicked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure off the special election ballot, ruling that supporters violated California's constitution by using two versions of the initiative in the qualifying process.

"The differences are not simply typographical errors," Judge Gail Ohanesian said. "They're not merely about the format of the measure. They are not simply technical. Instead they go to the substantive terms of the measure."

The proposal, Proposition 77, is one of three initiatives that the Republican governor is supporting in the Nov. 8 special election. It would take the power to draw legislative and congressional districts away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of three retired judges.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked the judge to order the measure off the ballot because its supporters used two versions – one to gather voter signatures and another that they gave to him to prepare a title and summary of the proposal to use on petitions.