BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2766|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2766
Author: Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-0, 6/17/14
AYES: Padilla, Hancock, Jackson, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-22, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: central committees: oaths
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill repeals the provisions of law that require
county central committee members of Democratic, Republican, and
American Independent parties, whether elected to the committee
or appointed to fill a vacancy, before he/she enters upon the
duties of his/her office, to take and subscribe the oath or
affirmation to uphold the United States and California
Constitutions.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires public officials to take an oath or affirmation of
office to support and defend the United States and California
Constitutions.
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2.Requires and defines a public officer and employee to include
"every officer and employee of the State, including the
University of California, every county, city, city and county,
district, and authority, including any department, division,
bureau, board, commission, agency, or instrumentality of any
of the foregoing."
3.Requires county central committee members of the Democratic,
Republican, and American Independent Parties, whether elected
to the committee or appointed to fill a vacancy, before he/she
enters upon the duties of his/her office, to take and
subscribe the oath or affirmation to uphold the United States
and California Constitutions.
4.Provides that it is the right of the people to freely exercise
religion, freedom of speech and press, and to peaceably
assemble and to petition the government for redress of
grievances.
This bill repeals the provisions of law that require county
central committee members of Democratic, Republican, and
American Independent parties, whether elected to the committee
or appointed to fill a vacancy, before he/she enters upon the
duties of his/her office, to take and subscribe the oath or
affirmation to uphold the United States and California
Constitutions.
Background
Loyalty oaths . California Constitution Section 3 of Article XX
(Section 3) requires public officials to take an oath or
affirmation of office to support and defend the United States
and California Constitutions. Additionally, existing state
statute requires each county central committee member of the
Democratic, Republican, and American Independent Party, whether
elected to the committee or appointed to fill a vacancy, to take
and subscribe to the oath or affirmation set forth in Section 3,
before he/she enters upon the duties of his/her office.
Existing law does not include a similar loyalty oath requirement
for members of the central committee of the Peace and Freedom
Party.
Last year, a lawsuit was filed against the Secretary of State
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(SOS) challenging the loyalty oath requirement for political
party central committee members. In the lawsuit, the petitioner
alleged that requiring central committee members to take the
oath of office found in Section 3 is a violation of the United
States and California Constitutions. The petitioner requested
the court to declare Elections Code Sections 7210, 7408, and
7655 invalid because county central committee members are not
public officeholders or employees and consequently, they should
not be required to take the oath. Additionally, the petitioner
alleged that the oath requirement violates the associational
rights of the political parties by regulating the internal
affairs of these political parties without a compelling state
interest.
The Superior Court ruled in favor of the petitioner's request
for a declaratory judgment that Elections Code Sections 7210,
7408, and 7655 are unconstitutional.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/14)
Secretary of State
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "This is one
of the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee's bills,
containing changes to provisions of the Elections Code to
conform state law to a recent Superior Court ruling in Barta v.
Bowen, in which the court found that the Elections Code
requirement for central committee members to take the oath of
office was unconstitutional."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-22, 5/15/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla,
Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall,
Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
Atkins
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Ch�vez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
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Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein,
Melendez, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Salas,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Linder, Mansoor, Vacancy
RM:k 6/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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