BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 362
                                                                  Page  1


          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 362 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
          As Amended  March 14, 2011
          Majority vote 

           ELECTIONS           5-1                                          
                
           
           -------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall,      |
          |     |Mendoza, Swanson          |
          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Logue                     |
          |     |                          |
           -------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Requires a write-in candidate for the office of 
          superior court judge to include a declaration on the statement 
          of write-in candidacy that he or she satisfies the eligibility 
          requirements for a judge and revises the number of signatures 
          required on a petition for a write-in campaign for this office.  
          Specifically,  this bill  : 

          1)Requires a write-in candidate for the office of superior court 
            judge to include a declaration on the statement of write-in 
            candidacy that he or she satisfies the eligibility 
            requirements for a judge.

          2)Requires that a petition indicating that a write-in campaign 
            will be conducted for the office of superior court judge be 
            signed by one-tenth of one percent of the registered voters 
            qualified to vote with respect to the office, except that the 
            petition must have no fewer than 100 and does not need more 
            than 600 signatures.

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Prohibits a person from becoming a judge of a court of record 
            unless for 10 years immediately preceding selection, the 
            person has been a member of the State Bar or served as a judge 
            of a court of record in the State of California.

          2)Provides that in any county in which only the incumbent has 
            filed nomination papers for the office of superior court 








                                                                  AB 362
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            judge, his or her name shall not appear on the ballot unless 
            there is filed with the elections official, within 10 days 
            after the final date for filing nomination papers for the 
            office, a petition indicating that a write-in campaign will be 
            conducted for the office and signed by 100 registered voters 
            qualified to vote with respect to the office.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. 

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "AB 362 is designed to make 
          two narrow changes to the law relating to write-in candidacies 
          for superior court judge.  First, Ýthis bill would] require 
          write-in candidates for judge to indicate that they meet the 
          constitutional requirements Ýto] take the bench. . . .  Second, 
          Ýthis bill would] base the number of signatures for the write-in 
          petition on the size of the county.  . . .  

          "The low signature requirement has led to harassment of judges 
          based upon race and ethnicity. During the 2008 June primary, a 
          known white supremacist used this procedure to focus on six 
          incumbent judges in Los Angeles with Spanish surnames.  The 
          person spearheading this effort published a book in 1989 calling 
          for disenfranchisement and deportation of non-whites, and was 
          endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan in a 1989 special election race for 
          Congress in Wyoming.  The protagonist and his colleagues 
          acknowledged that the judges were selected because of their 
          names.

          "While changing the signature requirement will not insure that 
          such harassment is not repeated, a reasonable signature 
          requirement will help insure a seriousness of purpose in each 
          county, based upon size, and help avoid situations where 
          signatures are submitted merely to force judge's names onto 
          ballots."

          Unlike candidates for State Legislature, incumbent superior 
          court judges do not appear on the ballot if nobody files to run 
          against them unless a petition is filed indicating that a 
          write-in campaign will be conducted.  In fact, candidates for 
          superior court judge typically do not appear on the ballot, 
          because it is fairly common for an incumbent judge to be 
          unopposed in a re-election bid.

          As a result, write-in candidates for superior court judge must 








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          organize a write-in candidacy much earlier than a write-in 
          candidate for other offices.  While the deadline for submitting 
          a declaration of write-in candidacy for judge is the same as the 
          deadline for submitting a write-in candidacy for any other 
          office (14 days before the election), a candidate who plans to 
          run as a write-in candidate for judge against an unopposed 
          incumbent will have to file a petition weeks earlier to ensure 
          that the judge's name is on the ballot, and that a write-in 
          candidacy is an option.

          AB 1335 (Lieu) of 2010, would have changed the number of 
          signatures needed on a petition indicating that a write-in 
          campaign would be conducted for the office of superior court 
          judge from 100 signatures to a number of signatures equal to one 
          tenth of one percent of the registered voters qualified to vote 
          with respect to the office, except that the petition would have 
          required at least 100 signatures and would not have exceeded 
          1,000 signatures.  Additionally, AB 1335 would have required a 
          write-in candidate for the office of superior court judge to 
          include a statement that he or she satisfied the eligibility 
          requirements for a judge on his or her declaration of candidacy. 
           AB 1335 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger on September 30, 
          2010, who expressed concern that the increased number of 
          signatures required to conduct a write-in campaign against an 
          incumbent judge could deter an individual from challenging an 
          incumbent for the office of superior court judge.

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 
                                                               FN:  0000144