A second lawsuit has been filed in an effort to get Proposition 77 off the November 8 special election ballot, and this lawsuit includes the charge that the initiative could disenfranchise minority voters.

The initiative would transfer the power of drawing political districts from the Legislature to a panel of retired judges, and has been mired in controversy after revelations that in some cases the initiative that was circulated had different language than the one filed with state officials.

Part of the lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court by the William C. Velasquez Institute and the Congress on Racial Equality of California, dovetails in some respects with the separate lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Lockyer’s suit argues the changes in the ballot measure okayed by Lockyer and the only actually circulated were substantive, and grounds to remove Prop 77 from the ballot.

But the new lawsuit from the civil rights organizations goes one step further, alleging that Prop 77 violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The argument is that Prop 77 allows new political districts to be drawn as early as 2006, using census data from 2000. The civil rights groups allege that census data is now outdated, and would result in an underrepresentation of minorities.

No timetable yet for this lawsuit, while Lockyer’s challenge is scheduled to be heard in court tomorrow afternoon.