BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






                            SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
                            AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
                           Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair


          BILL NO:   SB 1043             HEARING DATE:  4/22/14
          AUTHOR:    TORRES              ANALYSIS BY:   Frances Tibon  
          Estoista
          AMENDED:   AS INTRODUCED
          FISCAL:    YES
          
                                        SUBJECT
           
          Elections: in-lieu filing fee and political party qualification  
          petitions: penal provisions

                                      DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  defines "party" as a political party or  
          organization that has qualified for participation in any primary  
          election.

           Existing law  specifies that every person charged with the  
          performance of any duty under any law of this state relating to  
          elections, who willfully neglects or refuses to perform it, or  
          who, in his or her official capacity, knowingly and fraudulently  
          acts in contravention or violation of any of those laws, is,  
          unless a different punishment is prescribed by law, punishable  
          by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by  
          imprisonment for 16 months or two or three years, or by both  
          that fine and imprisonment.  Specifically, these duties include  
          the circulation of nomination papers, declarations of candidacy,  
          initiatives, referendum, and recall petitions.

           This bill  defines "political party qualification petition" as a  
          petition circulated to qualify a political party.

           This bill  provides that any person found guilty of fraudulently  
          circulating an in-lieu-filing fee petition, or political party  
          qualification petition be subject to the same penal provisions  
          as a person found guilty of other forms of petition fraud.

                                      BACKGROUND  
          
          Petition fraud is a crime prohibited by law.  Existing law sets  
          specific penalties for people convicted of committing fraud  









          involving nomination papers, declarations of candidacy,  
          initiatives, referenda, and recall petitions.  However,  
          in-lieu-filing-fee petitions and political party qualification  
          petitions are not specifically listed in the penalty provisions  
          of the Elections Code.

          This lack of clarity has impacted recent Secretary of State  
          investigations.  Though there was evidence in two recent cases  
          indicating a person had committed petition fraud, convictions  
          using these penalty provisions could not be obtained because the  
          law does not specifically address the kind of petition in  
          question in those cases.

                                       COMMENTS  
          
            1. According to the Author  :  Existing law is not clear for  
             certain types of petitioning, and SB 1043 seeks to clarify  
             this problem.  The lack of clarity in the law has impacted  
             recent Secretary of State investigations involving  
             in-lieu-filing-fee and party qualification petition cases.   
             Signature gatherers who deceive voters or collect signatures  
             in a fraudulent way should be penalized in all cases,  
             regardless of the type of petition they are circulating.

           This bill simply extends the prohibitions on petition fraud to  
             apply to in-lieu-filing-fee petitions and party qualification  
             petitions, thereby closing a significant loophole in the  
             Elections Code.

                                       POSITIONS  

          Sponsor: Secretary of State

           Support: California Association of Clerks and Election  
                   Officials (CACEO)

           Oppose:  None received






          SB 1043 (TORRES)                                                  
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