BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 370|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 370
Author: Brown (D)
Introduced:2/17/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/16/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Election campaigns: candidate misrepresentation
SOURCE: Author
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
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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.
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
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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? The Senate Elections and
Constitutional Amendments 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified6/25/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/25/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Salas
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Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
6/30/15 14:00:02
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