BILL NUMBER: AB 441	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hall

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Section 18370 of the Elections Code, relating to
elections.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 441, as introduced, Hall. Elections: prohibited activities.
   Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in specified
activities within 100 feet of a polling place or an election official'
s office when a voter may be casting a ballot and makes a violation
of these provisions a misdemeanor.
   This bill would additionally prohibit a person in those
circumstances from soliciting a donation, engaging in commercial
activity, or distributing goods or items for consumption or use.
   Because the bill would make additional conduct a crime, it would
impose a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 18370 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

   18370.  No person, on election day, or at any time that a voter
may be casting a ballot, shall, within 100 feet of a polling place or
an elections official's office:
   (a) Circulate an initiative, referendum, recall, or nomination
petition or any other petition.
   (b) Solicit a vote or speak to a voter on the subject of marking
his or her ballot.
   (c) Place a sign relating to voters' qualifications or speak to a
voter on the subject of his or her qualifications except as provided
in Section 14240.
   (d) Do any electioneering. 
   (e) Solicit a donation of any kind.  
   (f) Engage in commercial activity. "Commercial activity" means any
activity or action undertaken in whole or in part by a business or
an individual whose purpose, in whole or in part, directly or
indirectly, is to derive or realize a present or future financial
gain for the individual or business. 
   As used in this section, "100 feet of a polling place or an
elections official's office" means a distance 100 feet from the room
or rooms in which voters are signing the roster and casting ballots.
   Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.