BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1851
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1851 (Allen) - As Amended: April 10, 2012
SUBJECT : County initiative petitions.
SUMMARY : Requires county elections officials to allow for
public access to the proponent's initiative measure materials
filed with the elections officials, as specified. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires a county elections official, from the time an
initiative petition is filed to until the day after the county
elections official determines that the initiative petition
does not contain the minimum number of signatures required,
the day after the election at which the initiative measure is
put before voters, or the day after the proposed ordinance is
adopted by the board of supervisors after being submitted to
the board of supervisors in accordance with existing law, to
do the following:
a) Keep on file at his or her office materials the
initiative measure proponents filed with the county
elections official as required law; and,
b) Furnish copies of the materials described above to any
person upon request.
2)Permits the county elections official to charge a fee to a
person obtaining copies of materials pursuant to this bill.
Prohibits the fee from exceeding the actual cost incurred by
the county elections official in providing the copies.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires proponents of an initiative, before circulating any
initiative petition in a county, to file with the county
elections official a notice of intention to do so. Requires
the notice to include the names and business or residence
addresses of at least one, but no more than five, proponents
of the petition, and be accompanied by the written text of the
initiative and request that a ballot title and summary be
prepared.
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2)Permits the notice of intention to include a printed
statement, which does not exceed 500 words, stating the reason
for the proposed petition and provides the notice of intent to
be in form as specified.
3)Requires a person filing a notice of intent with the county
elections official to pay a fee established by the board of
supervisors, not to exceed $200, that can be refunded to the
filer if, within one year of the date of filing the notice of
intent, the county elections official certifies the
sufficiency of the petition.
4)Requires the county counsel, within 15 days of an initiative
being filed with the county elections official, to provide and
return to the county elections official the title and summary
of the proposed measure.
5)Requires the county elections official to furnish a copy of
the ballot title and summary of the proposed measure to the
proponents. Requires the proponents, prior to circulation of
the petition, to publish the notice of intention and the
ballot title and summary of the proposed summary, in a
newspaper of general circulation published in the county and
file proof of publication with the county elections official.
6)Permits proponents to begin circulating the petitions among
voters of the county for signatures by any registered voter of
the county after publication of the title and summary prepared
by the county counsel. Requires each petition to bear a copy
of the notice of intention and the title and summary.
7)Permits any elector of the county to seek a writ of mandate
requiring the ballot title and summary to be amended.
Requires a peremptory writ of mandate be issued only upon
clear and convincing proof that the ballot title or summary is
false, misleading, or inconsistent with the format
requirements as specified.
8)Requires initiative proponents to return the petitions for
filing within 180 days from the date of receipt of the title
and summary.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program;
contains a self-financing disclaimer.
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the bill : According to the author:
Current law for qualifying an initiative for the ballot
requires the proponent of a measure to file an intent to
file notification with the local jurisdiction along with a
$200 refundable fee and the text of the measure. A title
and summary is prepared and furnished to the proponents of
the measure and, after providing proper notice, allows the
circulation of the petition for signature gathering. The
proponent then has 180 days to obtain the requisite number
of signatures; otherwise the measure fails to qualify for
the ballot.
Once the local elections jurisdiction furnishes the title
and summary to the proponents of a measure they are not
required to retain the materials on file as a matter of
public record. In a democracy, where decision making is
predicated on an informed electorate, it is unconscionable
to not provide voters with access to as much information as
possible. AB 1851 would require county elections officials
to make available the title and summary, text of the
language, and intent to file documentation for the duration
of the 180 day circulation phase. The individual requesting
the materials may be charged a fee not to exceed the cost
of the production of these materials.
2)Increased Transparency : On the state level, proponents of a
proposed statewide initiative or referendum measure submit a
draft of the measure to the Attorney General (AG) with a
written request that a circulating title and summary of the
chief purpose and points of the initiative measure be prepared
and pay a $200 fee. Upon receipt of the fee and request, the
AG prepares a circulating title and summary, assigns the
proposed measure a unique numeric identifier, and furnishes a
copy of the official title and summary to the proponents and
the Secretary of State (SOS). In practice, the AG posts on
her website a copy of the proponent's written request for the
circulating title and summary as well as the official title
and summary prepared.
Similarly, in practice the SOS maintains a list on her website
of the proposed initiative and referendum measures that have
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qualified, initiative and referendum measures cleared for
circulation, initiative and referendum measures pending
signature verification, initiative and referendum measures
that failed to qualify, and initiative and referendum measures
pending at the AG's office.
As stated above in the author's statement, the intent of the
bill is to provide voters with access to as much information
as possible so they are able to make informed decisions when
voting. With the goal in mind to increase transparency and
provide more access, it should be noted that neither this bill
nor existing law prohibits county elections officials from
voluntarily posting these documents on their websites.
3)What About Municipal or District Initiatives ? Similar to
existing requirements regarding proposed county initiatives,
proposed municipal and district initiatives are required,
before circulating a proposed initiative petition in a city or
district, to publish a notice of intention accompanied by a
statement stating the reasons for the proposed measure in 500
words or less. Additionally, proposed municipal initiatives
are filed with their respective elections official with a
request for a title and summary to be prepared by the city
attorney. This step does not occur for proposed district
initiatives. Also similar to proposed county initiatives,
before circulation of the petitions, the notice of intention
and the title and summary of a proposed municipal initiative
or the statement of purpose for a proposed district initiative
is required to be published once in a newspaper of general
circulation within the city or district, if no newspaper of
general circulation, then published once in a newspaper
circulated within the city or within the county in which the
district is located, and posted in three public places within
the city or district. Moreover, existing law does not require
a municipal or district elections official to keep on file,
nor provide public access to, the proposed initiative measure
materials that were filed. The committee may wish to consider
whether the provisions of this bill should also apply to
proposed municipal and district initiatives.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
AB 1851
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094