BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 213|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 213
Author: Galgiani (D)
Amended: 5/28/13
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-0, 3/19/13
AYES: Correa, Anderson, Hancock, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/16/13
AYES: Evans, Walters, Anderson, Corbett, Jackson, Leno, Monning
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Election petitions: circulators
SOURCE : Secretary of State
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a person from circulating a state
or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition or
nominating paper unless the person is 18 years of age or older.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Prohibits the circulation of initiative, referendum, and
recall petitions and nominating papers by a person who is not
a resident of the state.
CONTINUED
SB 213
Page
2
2. Requires that wherever a 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, as specified.
3. Requires the circulator to certify to the content of the
declaration as to its truth and correctness, under penalty of
perjury under the laws of the State of California, with the
signature of his/her name. Requires the circulator to state
the date and the place of execution on the declaration
immediately preceding his/her signature.
This bill prohibits a person from circulating a state or local
initiative, referendum, or recall petition or nominating paper
unless the person is 18 years of age or older.
Background
In 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the case of
Nader v. Brewer (1998) 531 F.3d 1028, struck down an Arizona
statute that, among other things, required circulators of
petitions to be residents of Arizona.
The 1st Amendment, which applies to the states through the 14th
Amendment, provides, in part, that Congress shall make no law
abridging the freedom of speech or the right of the people to
assemble peaceably. Political speech lies at the core of that
Amendment. Circulation of petitions for elections, as noted by
the Nader case, "is 'core political speech,' because it involves
interactive communication concerning political change, and the
1st Amendment protection for such interaction is therefore 'at
its zenith.'" (Nader, 531 F.3d at 1035, citing Meyer v. Grant
(1988) 486 U.S. 414, 422, 425.) Accordingly, under United
States Supreme Court precedent, when a severely burdensome
election law is challenged, it is subject to strict scrutiny and
can only be upheld if the burden it imposes on the exercise of
these constitutional rights is sufficiently narrow to serve a
compelling state interest. The Nader court held that a
residency requirement for election petition circulators is
severely burdensome and does not survive strict scrutiny
analysis, in violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments.
CONTINUED
SB 213
Page
3
Since the Nader decision, multiple California counties have
reportedly been sued for this state's residency requirement for
petition circulators. In order to bring California into
compliance with that decision, this bill, sponsored by Secretary
of State (SOS), amends various sections of the Elections Code to
remove a residency requirement for persons who wish to circulate
petitions in California. Essentially, non-residents will no
longer be barred from circulating election petitions in this
state for lack of residency. Instead, this bill requires that
in order to circulate a petition or nominating paper, the person
must be at least 18 years of age or older.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the SOS
anticipates the need for one personnel year at the Associate
Government Program Analyst level with first year costs of
$101,053 and annual ongoing costs of $96,053 (General).
The above estimate is based on an approximation of 100,000
circulators in California and that 2% of those individuals may
be non-residents and therefore falling under the scope of this
bill. Costs stem from various duties including processing
consent forms, and receiving, tracking, and forwarding court
filings that are served on the SOS.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/24/13)
Secretary of State (source)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
Rural County Representatives of California
RM:k 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED
SB 213
Page
4
CONTINUED