SACRAMENTO—Supporters of a ballot measure aimed at redrawing congressional and legislative districts filed an appeal Monday and were granted a temporary suspension of a lower court ruling that ordered Proposition 77 off the ballot.

The measure, one of three backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the November special election, would give authority for redrawing district boundaries to a panel of retired judges. But organizers of the petition drive mistakenly used two different versions in the circulation process prompting Sacramento County Judge Gail Ohanesian to toss the measure from the ballot last week.

But Justice Coleman A. Blease, of the 3rd District Court of Appeal agreed to stay Ohanesian’s order until the case could be decided.

Although not unexpected, the ruling allows the measure to be included in a public display of all the measures qualified for the Nov. 8 special election. Officials said the display is a largely procedural action intended to give counties official notice of what measures will be on the ballot.

Still, the measures backers drew some hope from the judge’s ruling.

“This is really a good sign,” said Bill Mundell chairman of Californians for Fair Redistricting, a group involved in gathering signatures to put the redistricting initiative on the ballot.

“We really feel that the legal precedent is firmly on the side of overlooking minor discrepancies,” he said.

There is no word yet on when the case will come before the court but Mundell said he believed it would be this week.