Bill Text: CA AB421 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Elections: referendum measures.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 33-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-09-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 162, Statutes of 2023. [AB421 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB421-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 23, 2023 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Bryan |
February 02, 2023 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
The California Constitution authorizes an initiative measure to be proposed by presenting to the Secretary of State a petition of the proposed statute or constitutional amendment that is certified to have been signed by a certain percentage of electors. Before the circulation of an initiative or referendum petition for signature, existing law requires, among other things, the text of the proposed measure to be submitted to the Attorney General with a written request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of
the proposed measure be prepared.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited as, the Referendum Accountability Act of 2023.SEC. 2.
Section 101 of the Elections Code is amended to read:101.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, except as provided in subdivision (b), a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition required to be signed by voters shall contain in 11-point type, before that portion of the petition for voters’ signatures, printed names, and residence addresses, the following language, in order:(b)
SEC. 3.
Section 104 of the Elections Code is amended to read:104.
(a) Wherever any petition or paper is submitted to the elections official, each section of the petition or paper shall have attached to it a declaration signed by the circulator of the petition or paper, setting forth, in the circulator’s own hand, the following:SEC. 4.
Section 107 of the Elections Code is amended to read:107.
(a) (1) A committee formed pursuant to Section 82013 of the Government Code that pays for the circulation of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall create an Official Top Funders sheet as follows, with all text in a black roman type with a type size of 14 point on a plain, contrasting background, and centered horizontally, except as described below. None of the text shall have its type condensed or have the spacing between characters reduced to be narrower than a normal roman type. Unless otherwise specified, the text shall not be boldface type.SEC. 5.
Section 9004 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9004.
(a) Upon receipt of the text of a proposed initiative measure, and after the public review period provided for in Section 9002, the Attorney General shall prepare a circulating title and summary of the chief purposes and points of the proposed measure. The circulating title and summary shall not exceed 100 words. The Attorney General shall also provide a unique numeric identifier for each proposed initiative measure. The circulating title and summary shall be prepared in the manner provided for the preparation of ballot titles and summaries in Article 5 (commencing with Section 9050), the provisions of which, in regard to the preparation, filing, and settlement of ballot titles and summaries, are applicable to the circulating title and summary.(b)
(c)
SEC. 6.
Section 9007 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9007.
Immediately upon the preparation of the circulating title and summary of a proposed initiative or referendum measure, the Attorney General shall forthwith transmit copies of the text of theSEC. 7.
Section 9009.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:9009.5.
(a) For a proposed statewide initiative measure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 9014, the first page of the petition shall be in substantially the following form and in sans serif type unless otherwise specified:SEC. 8.
Section 9010 of the Elections Code is amended to read:Across the top of each page of a referendum petition, there shall be printed in 12-point boldface type the following:
9010.
SEC. 9.
Section 9012 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9012.
(a) Any petition for a proposed initiative measure or referendum may be presented in sections, but each section shall contain a full and correct copy of the circulating title and summary and text of the proposed measure. The text of the proposed measure shall be printed in type not smaller than 8 point.SEC. 10.
Section 9014 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9014.
(a) A petition for a proposed initiative or referendum measure shall not be circulated for signatures prior to the official summary date.SEC. 11.
Section 9020 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9020.
(a) The petition sections shall be designed so that each signer shall personally affix all of the following:(b)
(c)
SEC. 12.
Section 9023 is added to the Elections Code, to read:9023.
In addition to the information required by Sections 104 and 9022, the declaration of a person who solicits signatures for a proposed statewide referendum measure or a statewide initiative measure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 9014 and does not receive money or other valuable consideration for the specific purpose of soliciting signatures of electors on the petition, for purposes of the requirement of subdivision (a) of Section 9036, shall declare all of the following:SEC. 13.
Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 9025) is added to Chapter 1 of Division 9 of the Elections Code, to read:Article 2.5. Petition Circulator Accountability
9025.
(a) This article shall be known and may be cited as the California Petition Circulator Accountability Act of 2023.9026.
The Secretary of State shall design and administer a training program for petition circulators that includes training regarding the petition circulator registration requirements described in Section 9027 and acts that constitute prohibited conduct for circulators during the signature collection and petition filing process.9027.
(a) A petition circulator shall not receive payments of money or other valuable consideration to obtain signatures on a petition unless the circulator registers with the Secretary of State in the manner prescribed by this section.9028.
(a) The Secretary of State shall prescribe a system for numbering the sections of a petition circulated by a paid circulator for a measure described in subdivision (b) of Section 9025.SEC. 14.
Section 9030 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9030.
(a) Each section of the petition shall be filed with the elections official of the county or city and county for which it was circulated, but all sections circulated in any county or city and county shall be filed at the same time. Once filed, no petition section shall be amended except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.SEC. 15.
Section 9031 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9031.
(a) (1) If the statistical sampling shows that the number of valid signatures on all petition sections, including those submitted to satisfy the requirement of subdivision (a) of Section 9036, is within 95 to 110 percent of the number of signatures of qualified voters needed to declare the petition sufficient, the Secretary of State shall order the examination and verification ofSEC. 16.
Section 9034 of the Elections Code is amended to read:9034.
(a) The proponents of a proposed initiative measure shall submit a certification, signed under penalty of perjury, to the Secretary of State immediately upon the collection of 25 percent of the number of signatures needed to qualify the initiative measure for the ballot.SEC. 17.
Section 9036 is added to the Elections Code, to read:9036.
(a) For a petition for a proposed statewide referendum measure or a statewide initiative measure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 9014, at least 10 percent of the signatures required under Section 9035 shall be presented on a petition or section of a petition that was circulated by a person who does not receive money or other valuable consideration exclusively or primarily for the specific purpose of soliciting signatures of electors on the petition.SEC. 18.
The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.SEC. 19.
This act shall apply only to a proposed initiative or referendum measure for which the official summary date occurs on or after the effective date of this act.SEC. 20.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.(a)Before the circulation of an initiative or referendum petition for signatures, the text of the proposed measure shall be submitted to the Attorney General with a written request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure be prepared. The electors presenting the request shall be known as the “proponents.” The Attorney General shall preserve the written request until after the next general election.
(b)Each and every proponent of a proposed initiative measure shall, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed measure, provide both of the following:
(1)An
original signed certification stating that “I, (insert name), declare under penalty of perjury that I am a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, and a resident of (insert county), California.”
(2)Public contact information.
(c)The proponents of a proposed initiative measure, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed measure to the Attorney General, shall pay a fee to the Attorney General of two thousand dollars ($2,000) that shall be placed in a trust fund in the office of the Treasurer and refunded to the proponents if the measure qualifies for the ballot within two years from the date the summary is furnished to the proponents. If the measure does not qualify within that period, the fee shall be immediately paid into the General Fund of the
state.
(d)All referenda and proposed initiative measures must be submitted to the Attorney General’s Initiative Coordinator located
in the Sacramento Attorney General’s Office via U.S. Postal Service, alternative mail service, or personal delivery. Only printed documents will be accepted; facsimile or email delivery will not be accepted.
(e)The Attorney General shall not deem a request for a circulating title and summary submitted until all of the requirements of this section are met.