BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2233
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 2233 (Donnelly) - As Amended: March 28, 2014
SUBJECT : Primary elections: petitions: signatures.
SUMMARY : Reduces the number of signatures that a candidate
needs at a special vacancy election on a petition in lieu of
paying a filing fee in proportion to any reduction in the amount
of time to collect signatures. Specifically, this bill provides
that if the number of days for a candidate to collect signatures
on a petition in lieu of a filing fee for a special election
that is held to fill a vacancy is less than the number of days
that a candidate would have to collect signatures on a petition
at a regular election for the same office, the elections
official shall reduce the required number of signatures for the
petition by the same proportion as the reduction in time for the
candidate to collect signatures.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a person who seeks to have his or her name printed on
the ballot as a candidate for an office at the direct primary
election to file a declaration of candidacy and nomination
papers.
2)Requires a candidate for specified offices to pay a fee to
file the declaration of candidacy. Provides that the amount
of the fee is established as follows:
a) In the case of United States Senator or any statewide
office, two percent of the first-year salary for the
office;
b) In the case of Representative in Congress, member of the
Board of Equalization, justice of the court of appeal,
state Senator, or Member of the Assembly, one percent of
the first-year salary;
c) In the case of a county or judicial office to be voted
only wholly within one county, one percent of the annual
salary of the office provided, however, that no filing fee
shall be charged for any office for which the annual salary
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is $2,500 or less.
3)Permits a candidate to submit a petition containing signatures
of registered voters in lieu of paying a filing fee. Allows
any registered voter to sign an in-lieu-filing-fee petition
for any candidate for whom he or she is eligible to vote.
Requires a candidate to collect the following number of
signatures on an in-lieu-filing-fee petition in order to cover
the full amount of the filing fee that is required to be paid:
a) For the office of Member of the Assembly, 1,500
signatures;
b) For the office of state Senate or Representative in
Congress, 3,000 signatures;
c) For statewide office, 10,000 signatures; and,
d) For all other offices for which a filing fee is
required:
i) If the number of registered voters in the district
is 2,000 or more, four signatures for each dollar of the
filing fee or 10 percent of the total of registered
voters in the district, whichever is less; or,
ii) If the number of registered voters in the district
is less than 2,000, four signatures for each dollar of
the filing fee or 20 percent of the total of registered
voters in the district, whichever is less.
4)Provides that if the number of signatures collected on an
in-lieu-filing-fee petition is less than the total number of
signatures needed to cover the filing fee, the filing fee
shall be pro-rated based on the number of signatures collected
on the petition.
5)Permits a candidate to begin soliciting signatures on an
in-lieu-filing-fee petition 45 days before the first day for
circulating nomination papers, and requires an
in-lieu-filing-fee petition to be filed at least 15 days prior
to the close of the nomination period. Requires an elections
official to notify the candidate of any deficiency on the
in-lieu-filing-fee petition within 10 days after receipt of
the petition, and permits a candidate to submit a supplemental
AB 2233
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petition or to pay a pro rata portion of the filing fee to
cover any deficiency. Provides that the period for a
candidate to circulate nomination papers to appear on the
ballot at a primary election shall begin 113 days before the
primary election, and shall end 88 days before the primary
election.
6)Provides that in cases of vacancies for which a special
election is authorized or required to be held to fill the
vacancy, and where the nomination period would commence less
than 45 days after the creation of the vacancy, the forms for
soliciting signatures on an in-lieu-filing-fee petition shall
be made available within five working days after the creation
of the vacancy, at which point a candidate may begin
soliciting signatures on such a petition.
7)Requires the Governor, when a vacancy occurs in the office of
Representative to Congress, or in either house of the
Legislature, to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy
within 14 calendar days after the occurrence of the vacancy,
except as otherwise provided.
8)Requires a special general election to fill a vacancy in the
office of Representative in Congress, State Senator, or Member
of the Assembly to be conducted on a Tuesday at least 126
days, but not more than 140 days, following the issuance of
the writ of election, except that the special election may be
conducted within 180 days following the writ in order that the
election or the primary election may be consolidated with the
next regularly scheduled statewide election or local election
occurring wholly or partially within the same territory in
which the vacancy exists, provided that the voters eligible to
vote in the local election comprise at least 50 percent of all
the voters eligible to vote on the vacancy. Requires the
special primary election to be held on either the ninth
Tuesday or the tenth Tuesday prior to the special general
election. Provides that the period for a candidate to
circulate nomination papers to appear on the ballot at the
special primary election shall begin 73 days before the
primary election, and shall end 53 days before the primary
election.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
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1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
This is a simple bill that will allow more access to
special elections. Currently, the number of signatures
required in a special election are the same amount
required in a regularly scheduled election, even
though the number of days to collect those signatures
is usually far less. By dropping the number of
signatures required in proportion to the number of
days a candidate has to collect those signatures, we
would be allowing the public better access to the
ballot.
2)Filing Fees and Signatures in Lieu Petitions : California law
requires candidates for many elective offices to pay a filing
fee at the time they obtain nomination papers from the
elections official. Filing fees are intended, in part, to
help cover the administrative costs of conducting the
election, but also serve as a means of limiting the size of
the ballot in order to reduce voter confusion, prevent
overwhelming voting systems, and allow the electorate to focus
attention on a smaller number of candidates in order that
elections may better reflect the will of the majority. Courts
have long recognized that states have a legitimate interest in
regulating the number of candidates on the ballot for these
reasons.
At the same time, courts have also found that a state cannot
require candidates to pay a filing fee in order to appear on
the ballot unless the state also provides a reasonable
alternative means of ballot access. In Lubin v. Panish (1974)
415 U.S. 709, the United States Supreme Court found that a
California law that required certain candidates for office to
pay a filing fee in order to appear on the ballot was
unconstitutional because the law did not provide an alternate
means of qualifying for the ballot for indigent candidates who
were unable to pay the fee. In finding California's filing
fee law to be invalid, the court noted that there were other
"obvious and well known means of testing the 'seriousness' of
a candidacy which do not measure the probability of attracting
significant voter support solely by the neutral fact of
payment of a filing fee," including a requirement for a
candidate who cannot pay the filing fee to "demonstrate the
'seriousness' of his candidacy by persuading a substantial
AB 2233
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number of voters to sign a petition in his behalf."
In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Lubin , the
Legislature enacted and the Governor signed AB 914 (Ray
Gonzales), Chapter 454, Statutes of 1974, an urgency measure
that permitted candidates to file petitions containing the
signatures of a specified number of registered voters in lieu
of paying a filing fee. The number of signatures required to
be collected in lieu of paying a filing fee has remained
largely unchanged since the signatures-in-lieu procedure was
originally adopted in 1974, notwithstanding the fact that the
number of registered voters in California has increased by
more than 77 percent since that time.
3)Special Elections & Candidate Filing Timelines for Affected
Offices : This bill affects only elections for offices for
which candidates are required to pay a filing fee, and for
which a special election is held to fill a vacancy. While
local elective bodies call special elections in some
circumstances to fill vacancies, many such vacancies are
filled by appointment. Additionally, even in cases where a
special election is held, the period for collecting signatures
on in-lieu petitions often is not shortened. This bill,
however, frequently will affect special elections held to fill
vacancies in the Legislature and in the United States House of
Representatives.
When a vacancy occurs in the office of Representative to
Congress, or in either house of the Legislature, the Governor
is required to act within 14 calendar days to call a special
election to fill that vacancy, unless the vacancy occurs after
the close of the nomination period in the final year of the
term of office. When calling the special election, the
Governor sets the date of the special runoff election, which
generally must be held between 126 days and 140 days after the
date that the Governor calls the special election, though it
can be held as much as 180 days later when doing so allows for
the election to be consolidated with another election being
held in an overlapping area, subject to certain conditions.
The special primary election is then held either nine or ten
weeks prior to the scheduled special runoff election, as
specified by law. Taking into consideration the amount of
time that the Governor has to schedule the special election,
and the window within which the runoff election must be
scheduled, a special primary election can occur anywhere
AB 2233
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between 56 days and 131 days after a vacancy occurs in the
Legislature or Congress. The deadline for filing nomination
papers at a special election in these circumstances falls 53
days before the special primary election.
In a regular election, candidates have 56 days to collect
signatures on a petition in lieu of a filing fee. Given that
a special vacancy election can occur as soon as 56 days after
the creation of the vacancy, however, the period for
collecting signatures on an in lieu petition at a special
vacancy election can be considerably shorter. In fact,
because state law gives elections officials up to five working
days after a vacancy occurs to make in lieu petitions
available, it is theoretically possible that the deadline for
elections officials to make those petitions available could
fall after the deadline for candidates to file nomination
papers. In practice, however, in lieu petitions are generally
made available on the same day that the Governor calls the
special election, if not earlier, and the deadlines for
submitting in lieu petitions are adjusted as appropriate based
on the amount of time available until the deadline for
candidates to file nomination papers. In practice, for
special elections held during the 2013-2014 Legislative
session, candidates have had between three and 42 days to
collect signatures on in lieu petitions, as detailed below.
---------------------------------------------------------------
|Special | Days to | Signatures | Value Per | Value Per |
|Election| Collect | Required | Signature | Signature |
| | Signatures on | Under AB | Under | Under AB |
|District| In Lieu | 2233 | Existing | 2233 |
| | Petitions | | Law | |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| SD 4 | 4 | 215 | $0.317636 | $4.432140 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| SD 40 | 5 | 268 | $0.301753 | $3.377836 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| SD 32 | 5 | 268 | $0.301753 | $3.377836 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| SD 16 | 15 | 804 | $0.301753 | $1.125945 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| AD 80 | 3 | 81 | $0.603507 | $11.176049 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| AD 52 | 8 | 215 | $0.603507 | $4.210512 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
AB 2233
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| SD 26 | 18 | 965 | $0.301753 | $0.938093 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| AD 45 | 18 | 483 | $0.603507 | $1.874244 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| AD 54 | 5 | 134 | $0.603507 | $6.755672 |
|--------+---------------+------------+------------+------------|
| SD 23 | 42 | 2250 | $0.317636 |$0.423516 |
---------------------------------------------------------------
As demonstrated above, this bill would significantly reduce
the number of signatures that candidates need to receive in
lieu of paying a filing fee for some special elections, and
will significantly increase the value of each signature
received for those candidates who collect some, but not all,
of the necessary signatures. As a result, this bill could
increase the number of candidates that run for office at
special elections. Additionally, this bill could reduce the
revenue received from candidate filing fees.
4)Proliferation of Candidates & Possible Amendment : In an
extreme case, if a special election were called to fill a
vacancy in the Assembly at such a time that only one day was
allowed to collect signatures on in lieu petitions, this bill
would require a candidate at that special election to collect
just 27 signatures on an in lieu petition in order to appear
on the ballot without the payment of a filing fee. Although
it may not be easy to collect 27 signatures in such a
situation, it may be considerably easier for candidates than
it would be to collect 1500 signatures in a 56 day period,
since a candidate is likely to be able to collect the
signatures of family members and friends relatively quickly.
In such a situation, if it is too easy for candidates to
collect the signatures needed to avoid paying the filing fee,
the filing fee requirement may not serve its purpose of
regulating the number of candidates on the ballot. To protect
against this potential, the author and the committee may wish
to consider an amendment to provide that not less than 100
signatures are needed on an in-lieu-filing-fee petition for an
election to fill a vacancy in the Legislature or Congress,
regardless of the number of days that a candidate has to
collect signatures on such a petition.
5)Technical Issue & Suggested Amendment : This bill requires the
number of signatures needed on an in lieu petition to be
reduced for a special vacancy election in proportion to any
AB 2233
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reduction in the number of days that a candidate would have to
collect signatures on a petition at a regular election for the
same office. However, because a candidate can submit a
supplemental petition with signatures in lieu of paying a
filing fee, it is unclear whether the "number of days" that a
candidate has to collect signatures at a regular election
includes the time period under which a candidate could collect
signatures on a supplemental petition. In order to clarify
this ambiguity, committee staff recommends that this bill be
amended to clarify that the amount of time that a candidate
has to collect signatures on an in lieu petition is based on
the number of days between the time that such petitions are
made available and the time that such petitions must be
submitted, and does not include any time that a candidate
would be permitted to collect signatures on a supplemental
petition as permitted by law.
6)Arguments in Support : In support of this bill, the Peace and
Freedom Party of California writes:
As a result of the passage of Proposition 14 and its
implementing legislation, the number of signatures in
lieu of filing fees has increased from a maximum of
150 valid signatures in lieu of filing fees for
candidates of the smaller parties to 10,000 valid
signatures for our statewide candidates. This
increase in the number of signatures is a major
concern of California's three smallest parties and has
caused a 70% drop in the number of candidates from
these parties.
Even before the implementation of Proposition 14, the
signature-in-lieu requirements were unfair to all
candidates in the case of special elections to fill
vacancies. AB 2233 reduces the number of signatures
in lieu of filing fees in special elections in
proportion to the reduction in the number of days
needed to gather those signatures. This is necessary
because when a special election is called the number
of days to collect signatures in lieu is often
drastically reduced, making them much more difficult
to collect. While it does not reduce the number of
signatures in lieu of filing fees, it does make an
impossible situation somewhat better.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Coalition for Free and Open Elections
Peace and Freedom Party of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094