BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1335|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1335
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: 6/9/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 4-1, 6/15/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
NOES: Denham
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: write-in candidates
SOURCE : California Judges Association
DIGEST : This bill requires write-in candidates for the
office of superior court judge to include on their
statements of write-in candidacy a statement that they
satisfy the eligibility requirements for a judge. This
bill also 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 not fewer
than 100 and does not need more than 1,000 signatures.
This bill also makes technical changes that will be
implemented only if Proposition 14 is approved by the
voters on the June 8, 2009 Statewide Primary Election.
CONTINUED
AB 1335
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ANALYSIS : Existing law 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
California Judges Association (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/29/10)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill deals with write-in candidates for judicial
elections. Under present law, the names of incumbent
Superior Court judges running for re-election do not appear
on the ballot unless either a qualified challenger files to
run against them, in which case the name of the judge and
the challenger will appear on the ballot, or unless a
petition is filed pursuant to Elections Code Section 8203.
Under this section, if a petition signed by at least 100
voters in the appropriate county is filed during the
requisite timeframe, the judge's name will appear on the
ballot. Additionally, write-in candidates may qualify to
challenge the judge by submitting nomination papers, during
the period running from 57 days prior to the election until
14 days prior.
The sponsor of this bill, the California Judges
Association, believes that the Section 8203 petition
procedure has been abused by groups intent on harassing
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
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1989 special election race for Congress in Wyoming. The
protagonist and his colleagues acknowledged that the judges
were selected because of their names.
"The six Latino judges were shocked when they learned that
they were targeted, but under the law they did not know
whether they would actually have write-in campaigns run
against them, or by whom. They were left uncertain as to
whether they needed to raise campaign money, hire
consultants, and carry out a campaign.
The Judges Association believes that more than 100
signatures should be required to force the county to
include judge's names on the ballot, particularly in light
of the potential for harassment on improper grounds. The
sponsor is currently evaluating the petition procedure, and
is working with the Judicial Council's Commission on
Impartial Justice to evaluate this and other issues.
Recommendations are to be finalized in the next few months.
We anticipate using this bill as a vehicle for any
appropriate Elections Code changes relating to judicial
elections.
In the meantime, this bill merely proposes a technical and
clarifying change that any write-in candidate for Superior
Court office must file a statement that he/she meets the
state constitutional requirements to serve as a judge.
Article VI, Section 15 provides that a person is ineligible
to serve as a judge unless he or she has been a member of
the State Bar for 10 years immediately preceding the
election, or has served as a judge of a court of record in
this state."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance
state, "to the extent the additional statement from
write-in candidates requires modification of the
application forms, local agencies could incur increased
costs which may be reimbursable. For many counties, this
bill would increase the number of signatures needed on a
petition for a write-in campaign, thereby increasing the
number of petition signatures that must be verified by
county elections officials. Consequently, this bill could
increase any existing General Fund mandate costs associated
with the verification of petition signatures.
AB 1335
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Eng, Price, Saldana
DLW:do 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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