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Candidate Seeks Writ in Bid to Expand Ballot Designation
Former Prosecutor, Whose Current Label As ‘Deputy District Attorney’ Is Being Challenged by Rival Candidate for Superior Court, Brings Action Aimed at Being Identified As ‘Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles’
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Ex-prosecutor Georgia Huerta, whose current ballot designation of “Deputy District Attorney” was challenged in a writ petition filed Monday by a rival candidate for Superior Court Office No. 118, yesterday filed her own petition by which she seeks an order to the registrar recorder to permit her chosen label of “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles.”
Melissa Hammond, a current deputy district attorney, brought the challenge on Monday on the ground that, under Elections Code §13107(b)(2)(B), “Attorney,” “Attorney at Law,” “Lawyer,” or “Counselor at Law” are the only permissible designations for Huerta.
Huerta’s writ petition was filed by Mark J. Geragos and Alexandra Kazarian of the downtown Los Angeles firm of Geragos and Geragos. It reveals that her chosen designation of “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles” was initially accepted by the Registrar-Recorder’s Office on Feb. 23, saying, in an email:
“Pursuant to Section 13107 (b)(1)(C), it appears that your ballot designation does meet the Elections Code requirements.”
Wording of Statute
That section authorizes a designation of “[n]o more than three words designating either the current principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate, or the principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate during the calendar year immediately preceding the filing of nomination documents.”
Upon further review, the county office determined that “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles” is more than three words, and disallowed it. (It also found her second choice, “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles, Retired,” to be unacceptable.) In an email of March 3, Huerta expressed disagreement with the determination, but said: “I only ask that ‘Deputy District Attorney’ be placed as my ballot designation until this matter is resolved.”
She was a deputy district attorney from Aug. 17, 1987 until March 26, 2021.
Other Candidates
The writ petition points out that other candidates are permitted to use the designation, “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles,” citing Elections Code §13107(b)(2) which says:
“For a candidate for judicial office who is an active member of the State Bar employed by a city, county, district, state, or by the United States, the designation shall appear as one of the following: [¶] (A) Words designating the actual job title, as defined by statute, charter, or other governing instrument.”
Sec. 13107(b)(3)(B) adds:
“If the candidate is an official or employee of a county, the name of the county shall appear preceded by the words ‘County of.’ ”
Two of the other candidates for Office No. 118—Hammond and Keith Koyano—are listed as “Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles.” Both presently hold that title.
Huerta’s petition and her accompanying memorandum of points and authorities argue that it is unfair to deny Huerta use of the designation others are permitted to have. It does not make clear whether Huerta is seeking relief from §13107’s three-word requirement generally applicable to candidates or from the limitation of subd. (b)(3)(B) to someone who “is” a county employee.
No case is cited as authority other than the California Supreme Court’s 1964 decision in Salinger v. Jordan where it was noted that “[a] major purport of the Elections Code is to insure the accurate designation of the candidate upon the ballot in order that an informed electorate may intelligently elect one of the candidates.”
Huerta’s Contention
The writ petition sets forth:
“Limiting Ms. Huerta to three words for her ballot designation results in her having to use and [sic] incomplete designation that does not reflect her previous public service to the county where she now seeks election as a judge. If Ms. Huerta is not able to include the words ‘County of Los Angeles’ in her designation, voters will lack awareness not only that Ms. Huerta’s prior public service was in the County of Los Angeles, but also that this service was even in the state of California.”
It adds:
“Holders of current public office are not only allowed to use their full job titles without being subject to word limits, but are also required to include the names of their government- entity employers in their ballot designations….Thus, Ms. Huerta is paradoxically prohibited from including both a geographical qualifier that her opponents are required to provide and information about her retired status. The untenable result is that current Deputy District Attorneys who run against Ms. Huerta will be able to use the designation ‘Deputy District Attorney, County of Los Angeles’ while Ms. Huerta is limited to the designation ‘Deputy District Attorney.’ If anything, this juxtaposition misleadingly suggests that Ms. Huerta is or was Deputy District Attorney of another county.”
Hammond contends that Huerta may not properly use the title “Deputy District Attorney” because she does not presently hold that position. She maintains that reference in §13107(b)(1)(C) to “the principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate during the calendar year immediately preceding the filing of nomination documents” is limited by Code of Regulations §20714(d) to a circumstance where “the candidate does not have a current principal profession, vocation or occupation at the time he or she files his or her nomination documents.”
As an active member of the State Bar, she notes, Huerta retains the profession of an attorney.
The competing writ petitions are assigned to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant who is expected to set a date today for a hearing on the matters.
In addition to Hammond, Huerta and Koyano, Office No. 118 is being sought by Deputy County Counsel S. (Shawn) Thever, Administrative Law Presiding Judge Klint McKay, and attorney Carolyn “Jiyoung” Park.
Copyright 2022, Metropolitan News Company