BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1117
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Date of Hearing: April 23, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1117 (Donnelly) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Initiative petitions: electronic access.
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to make
petitions for proposed state initiative and referendum measures
available on his or her Web site. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the SOS to make available the petition for a state
initiative or referendum measure that is currently in
circulation in a format that can be downloaded from the SOS's
official Internet Web site and printed so a voter may sign the
petition and submit it to the proponent or proponents by mail.
2)Requires the SOS to make the mailing address where a signed
petition can be sent available to the public on the SOS's
official Internet Web site.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits voters to propose statutes or amendments to the
Constitution through an initiative.
2)Permits voters to reject statutes or parts of statutes, except
as specified, through a referendum.
3)Specifies the format for petitions for state initiative and
referendum measures.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Californians can renew their driver's licenses online,
they can even register to vote online, but they cannot
access an initiative petition online. AB 1117 simply
gives Californians online access to California's
initiative process. In order to be effective,
government must be efficient. This bill streamlines
AB 1117
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the initiative and referendum process, by giving
voters online access to initiative and referendum
petitions currently in circulation.
2)No Barrier to Downloadable Petitions Under Existing Law :
There is nothing in existing law that prohibits petitions for
proposed state initiative or referendum measures from being
made available online for voters to download, print, sign, and
mail-in. In light of this fact, if making petitions available
online for potential signers to download is an effective
method of gathering signatures for proposed measures, one
would expect that initiative and referendum proponents would
regularly make their petitions available online for potential
signers. In fact, at least some initiative proponents have
made their petitions available for download on the Web sites
promoting the proposed measures.
On the other hand, if making petitions online for potential
signers to download is not an effective method of gathering
signatures for proposed measures, the desirability of
requiring the SOS to make these petitions available on his or
her Web site for download is unclear.
3)Preparation of Initiative and Referendum Petitions :
Traditionally, it has been the responsibility of the
proponents of an initiative or referendum measure to prepare
the petitions to qualify that measure for the ballot, subject
to certain formatting requirements. Although the SOS has
developed a sample petition as part of the statewide
initiative guide that the office prepares as required by state
law, that office does not prepare or produce petitions for
actual initiative or referendum measures. This bill would
require the SOS, for the first time, to be responsible for
preparing initiative and referendum petitions that can be used
to collect signatures to qualify measures for the ballot.
4)Other States : According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, California is one of 24 states that have an
initiative process. Of those 24 states, six states permit
initiatives for statutes only, three states permit initiatives
for constitutional amendments only, and the remaining 15
states permit initiatives both for constitutional amendments
and for statutes. Two states permit referenda, but not
initiatives, meaning that 26 states permit either initiatives,
referenda, or both.
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Of the states that permit either the initiative or the
referendum process, only two (Mississippi and Nevada) appear
to post petitions for the proposed initiative or referendum
measures on a governmental Web site.
5)Arguments in Support : In support of this bill, California
Common Cause writes:
Common Cause supports AB 1117 because it would improve
and increase access to California's ballot initiative
system. One of the biggest complaints about our
initiative system is the huge costs associated with
collecting signatures for qualification, which now
averages between $2.5 and $3 million. The huge cost
means access to our direct democracy is only available
to the very wealthy. By allowing petitions to be
accessed and downloaded on the Secretary of State's
website, proponents can use the power of the Internet
to mobilize grassroots movements and further
democratize the initiative process. This proposal
should be seriously considered and approved by the
Committee as a common sense ballot measure reform.
6)Arguments in Opposition : In opposition to this bill,
Secretary of State Debra Bowen writes:
Under existing law, initiative and referendum
proponents can already post and circulate downloadable
petitions on the Internet. Under Elections Code
sections 106(b) and 9021, voters can-and do right
now-effectively "self-circulate" an initiative or
referendum petition that the voter can provide to the
official[] initiative or referendum proponents.
By requiring the Secretary of State to provide
initiative petitions to initiative and referendum
proponents, this measure has the effect of
transferring some of the costs associated with an
initiative or referendum campaign from a private
proponent to the state's taxpayers.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 1117
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California Common Cause
Opposition
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094