BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1335
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 17, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1335 (Lieu) - As Amended: June 9, 2010
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 18, 2009) |SENATE: |23-11|(August 11, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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(vote not relevant)
SUBJECT : Elections: write-in candidates.
SUMMARY : 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.
The Senate amendments :
1)Change the number of signatures needed on a petition
indicating that a write-in campaign will be conducted for the
office of superior court judge from 100 signatures to a number
of signatures equal to 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.
2)Make technical changes.
EXISTING LAW
1)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.
2)Provides that in any county in which only the incumbent has
filed nomination papers for the office of superior court
judge, his or her name shall not appear on the ballot unless
there is filed with the elections official, within 10 days
after the final date for filing nomination papers for the
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office, a petition indicating that a write-in campaign will be
conducted for the office and signed by 100 registered voters
qualified to vote with respect to the office. Provides that
if a petition indicating that a write-in campaign will be
conducted for the office at the general election, signed by
100 registered voters qualified to vote with respect to the
office, is filed with the elections official not less than 83
days before the general election, the name of the incumbent
shall be placed on the general election ballot if it has not
appeared on the direct primary election ballot.
3)Requires every person who desires to be a write-in candidate
and have his or her name as written on the ballot of an
election counted for a particular office to file a statement
of write-in candidacy that contains the following information:
a) Candidate's name;
b) Residence address;
c) A declaration stating that he or she is a write-in
candidate;
d) The title of the office for which he or she is
running;
e) The party nomination which he or she seeks, if
running in a primary election; and,
f) The date of the election.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was similar to the Senate
approved version, except that it did not change the number of
signatures required on a petition indicating that a write-in
campaign will be conducted for the office of superior court
judge.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. negligible state costs.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
AB 1335 makes two narrow changes to the Elections Code
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relating to write-in candidates for judicial races. Under
current 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 current threshold of 100 signatures has been abused by
groups intent on harassing judges, primarily based on race
and ethnicity. For example, during the June 2008 primary
election, 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 that called for disenfranchisement and
deportation of non-whites, and was endorsed by the Ku Klux
Klan in a 1989 special election race for Congress in
Wyoming. The instigator 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 if 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 current signature threshold of 100 is too low. A
higher number of signatures should be required to force a
county to include a judge's name on the ballot,
particularly in light of the potential for harassment on
improper grounds. In addition, if an individual is going
to run for judicial office, he or she should demonstrate
that he or she meets the state constitutional requirements
to serve as a judge. AB 1335 addresses both of these
issues.
2)Not on the Ballot : Unlike candidates for Legislature,
incumbent superior court judges do not appear on the ballot if
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nobody files to run against them unless a petition is filed
within a specified time period indicating that a write-in
campaign will be conducted. In fact, candidates for superior
court judge typically do not appear on the ballot, because it
is fairly common for an incumbent judge to be unopposed in a
re-election bid.
As a result, write-in candidates for superior court judge must
organize a write-in candidacy much earlier than a write-in
candidate for other offices. While the deadline for
submitting a declaration of write-in candidacy for judge is
the same as the deadline for submitting a write-in candidacy
for any other office (14 days before the election), a
candidate who plans to run as a write-in candidate for judge
against an unopposed incumbent will have to file a petition
weeks earlier to ensure that the judge's name is on the
ballot, and that a write-in candidacy is an option.
3)Argument in Support : The sponsor of AB 1335, the California
Judges Association, write in support:
AB 1335 makes two narrow changes to the Elections Code
relating to the write-in candidates for judicial races.
First, the bill amends Elections Code Section 8600 to
require that write-in candidates include within their
statements of candidacy that they meet the state
constitutional requirement to serve as judges. Judicial
positions are unique in that the law requires judges to
have been members of the Bar for 10 years preceding their
election or appointment to the bench, and this change
assures that write-in candidates are aware of the
requirement.
Second, AB 1335 would amend Elections Code Section 8203
relating to the number of signatures required to place a
judge's name on the ballot in anticipation of a write-in
challenge. Current law sets the number of required
signatures at 100; AB 1335 proposes a requirement equal to
.1% of the registered voters in the county, but not less
than 100 or more than 1000. This change recognizes the
vast disparities in size between California's smallest
counties, where the signature requirement is reasonable,
and the largest counties, where current law is far too low.
A modest increase in the number of signatures required in a
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judicial write-in candidacy will limit the circumstances
where the ballot process is abused by persons with no
intention to mount a write-in campaign. Exactly such a
circumstance occurred recently where a white supremacist
used the low signature requirement to target Latino judges.
4)Argument in Opposition : The Department of Finance write in
opposition, "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."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Judges Association (sponsor)
Judicial Council
Opposition
Department of Finance
Analysis Prepared by : Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094