Warden v. Brown

VAN DYKE, P. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment following an order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend a pleading entitled ‘1 Statements of Contests of Election.” For ground of contest appellant alleged that following the general election of 1958 certain elected candidates had failed

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to file campaign statements as required by law. Appellant alleged that although campaign statements were filed by the several defendants, respondents here, certain information required to be given therein was omitted, and he prayed that the court order that amended statements complying with the law be filed and prayed that if any failed to comply with such order the court declare their elections annulled, the certificates of election theretofore issued rescinded, and that the court give such other appropriate relief as might appear to be just and proper.

Six respondents presently hold the state offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Controller and Treasurer. The seventh holds the office of United States Senator from California.

One of the sustained grounds of demurrer was that the pleading filed by the appellant did not state a cause of action against any defendant. Appellant alleged that, although each of the respondents filed a campaign statement, the statements filed did not substantially comply with the requirements of section 4504 of the Elections Code in that, although the statements set forth the names of persons who contributed to the various respondents’ campaigns, the amount of each contribution was not stated. Although there were other grounds of demurrer, the substantiality of which is argued on appeal, we think it unnecessary to do more than to discuss the sufficiency of appellant’s pleading to state a cause for contest.

Preliminarily, it should be noted that the legislation with which we are here concerned which appears in division 7 of the Elections Code under the heading “Election Campaigns” has appeared in the statute laws of England for 200 years, century. In addition to the long history of this legislation in our state, kindred legislation has been the subject of concern and statutory enactment in all of the states of the Union, and has been in one form or another upon our statute books for a Such legislation, commonly called “purity of election laws,” has often been the subject of legislative study through various committees of the legislatures of the several states and of the Congress, and has likewise been the subject of writers, economists and others interested in the development and protection of free elections in representative governments. It can safely be said that the requirements of such laws have been the subject of so much discussion that no important requirement can have escaped attention. The history of our own statutes upon this subject reflects the general experience and the con