Does California Need a Title Board?

State Sen. George Runner, sponsor of a ballot initiative requiring citizens to show government-issued photo ID before voting, is so angry about the title that Attorney General Jerry Brown gave his measure that he's gone to court to get it changed. Republican operative (and friend of the blog) Tom del Becarro makes Runner's case here (along with a few gratuitous swipes at ACORN--ignore those and read to the place where the title Brown gave the measure is compared with a previous title on a similar measure).

The problem here isn't Brown, it's the system. California gives the attorney general -- an elected official and, in most eras, the state's second most prominent statewide politician -- the authority to write titles and summaries for ballot initiatives. And naturally, there have been constant complaints about the titles -- and suspicions about the political motives of attorneys general writing those titles. 

If you want non-partisan titles, it would be better to put the power in a non-partisan body. The Swiss, who started direct democracy, have a government office of experts (made up of historians, scientists and lots of linguists) who draft not only the ballot material on initiatives and referenda but the actual language of the initiatives themselves. Closer to home, Colorado and Ohio have non-partisan bodies known as title boards that handle this work. There are sometimes complaints and litigation about their titles and summaries, too, but their record is stronger.