BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 370 Hearing Date: 6/16/15
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|Author: |Brown |
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|Version: |2/17/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Election campaigns: candidate misrepresentation
DIGEST
This bill expands the list of activities that constitute a crime
of candidate misrepresentation.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1) Provides that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor who, with
the intent to mislead the voters in connection with his or
her campaign for nomination or election to a public office,
or connection with the campaign of another person for
nomination or election to a public office, assumes, pretends,
or implies, by his or her statements or conduct, that he or
she is the incumbent of a public office, or that he or she is
or has been acting in the capacity of a public officer, when
that is not the case.
2) Provides that any violation may be enjoined in a civil
action brought by any candidate for the public office
involved.
This bill: Specifies that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor
if, with the intent to mislead the voters, he or she assumes,
pretends, or implies by his or her campaign materials that he or
she is the incumbent of a public office, or has been acting in
the capacity of a public officer, when that is not the case.
AB 370 (Brown) Page 2
of ?
BACKGROUND
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally mislead
voters in elections. Further, the law prohibits a candidate
from assuming, pretending, or implying by his or her statements
or conduct, that he or she is the incumbent of a public office,
or has been acting in the capacity of a public officer when that
is not the case. A violation of this law is a misdemeanor.
COMMENTS
1) According to the Author , there have been occasions in
which a candidate for an elected office has placed
misleading information on campaign materials, especially on
outdoor signage. I have had numerous constituent complaints
about the false and or misleading advertising they receive
or view during campaigns. Especially, signs that mislead
the public as to a candidate's occupation or profession.
Specifically, professing to be the incumbent, when in fact
they are the challenger. This is not only false and
misleading but should be illegal. It is time that we place
some reasonable limits on false and misleading campaign
materials, including signage. This clarification is needed
because candidate misrepresentation is occurring and most
recently occurred in the author's district during the
November, 2014 General Election.
Moreover, it can be argued that campaign materials, such as
campaign signs, are already included within the existing
prohibition against statements or conduct that falsely
suggests that a person is an incumbent. Nevertheless, this
bill will strengthen and clarify current law by explicitly
including campaign materials and could help prevent.
2) Is it a statewide problem ? Committee staff tracked down
two other instances of complaints of misleading campaign
materials, but those instances both involved judicial races
in 2012. Additionally, while the author's office has
provided the committee with a picture of a campaign sign
which can be interpreted to be a false claim of incumbency
by a challenger, their office was unable to provide further
examples.
AB 370 (Brown) Page 3
of ?
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |78 - 0 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |16 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 7 - 0 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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