California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill on Wednesday creating a ballot vote on whether state residents favour an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
The vote in California, where polls have shown most residents support withdrawing some or all troops from Iraq, would have been only symbolic and not directly impacted the contribution by the country's most populous state to the war. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, a Democrat, backed the measure as a way to express public opinion short of taking to the streets in protest as many in California did during the Vietnam War.
"Public opinion polls have confirmed again and again that Californians are sharply divided, as are all Americans, as to when and how our troops should be withdrawn," Schwarzenegger said in his veto message issued early on Wednesday. "We do not need an advisory ballot to understand this deep divide."
"The decision to engage in or withdraw troops from war is a federal issue, not a state issue." California has a long tradition of state initiatives and referenda in which voters express their preferences on public policy issues.
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