BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1188|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1188
Author: Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments
Committee
Amended: 4/9/12
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/19/12
AYES: Correa, La Malfa, De Le�n, Gaines, Lieu
SUBJECT : Elections
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill deletes the requirement that a middle
name or initial also be provided by the circulator in order
for a petition to be valid and corrects two obsolete
Elections Code references contained in the Water Code
related to all-mailed ballot elections.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that wherever any
petition or paper is submitted to the elections official,
each section of the petition or paper shall have attached
to it a declaration signed by the circulator of the
petition or paper, setting forth, in the circulator's own
hand, the following:
1. The printed name of the circulator.
2. The residence address of the circulator, giving street
and number, or if no street or number exists, adequate
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designation of residence so that the location may be
readily ascertained.
3. The dates between which all the signatures to the
petition or paper were obtained.
Existing law provides the circulator shall certify to the
content of the declaration as to its truth and correctness,
under penalty of perjury, with the signature of his/her
name at length, including given name, middle name or
initial, or initial and middle name. The circulator shall
state the date and the place of execution on the
declaration immediately preceding his/her signature.
Existing law provides the manner in which the declaration
of a petition circulator is prepared. Existing law further
requires that a circulator certify to the content of the
declaration as to its truth and correctness, under penalty
of perjury, with the signature of his/her name at length,
including given name, middle name or initial, or initial
and middle name. The circulator shall state the date and
the place of execution on the declaration immediately
preceding his/her signature.
The author's office states, "As currently written, the
Elections Code requires petition circulators to print their
name and to sign the Declaration of Circulator (DOC) using
their complete name, including middle name or initial.
Many people do not use a middle name or initial when
affixing their signatures to documents. Failure on the
part of a circulator to include a middle name or initial on
his or her DOC should not invalidate otherwise valid
signatures on a petition."
This bill deletes the requirement that a middle name or
initial be provided by the circulator in order for the
petition to be certified by an elections official.
This bill also corrects two obsolete Elections Code
references contained in the Water Code related to
all-mailed ballot elections.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
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DLW:kc 4/23/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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