BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1043 (Torres) - Election Petitions
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: E&CA 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes, Nonreimbursable
Hearing Date: May 5, 2014 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1043 provides that any individual who is found
guilty of fraudulently circulating an in-lieu-filing fee
petition, or political party qualification petition, will be
subject to the same penal provisions as an individual who is
found guilty of other forms of petition fraud.
Fiscal Impact:
No additional state costs to the SOS (General Fund)
Unknown, non-reimbursable local enforcement costs (Local
Fund)
Background: Existing law provides that any person charged with
the performance of any duty under any law relating to elections
such as the circulation of nomination papers, declarations of
candidacy, initiatives, referendum, and recall petitions and who
wilfully neglects or refuses to perform it, or who knowingly and
fraudulently acts in violation of those laws, is punishable by
fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for 16 months, or
two or three years, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
However, current law is silent as to the penalties for
fraudulently circulating an in-lieu-filing fee petition, or a
political party qualification petition. This lack of clarity
has hindered recent Secretary of State investigations where
convictions could not be obtained because the law does not
specifically address the kind of petitions referenced to in
those cases.
Proposed Law: SB 1043 will apply the same penalty provisions
for individuals who are fraudulently involved in circulating
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in-lieu-filing-fee and party qualification petitions as it
currently applies to individuals who commit other types of
election fraud.
The bill defines "political party qualification petition" as a
petition circulated to qualify a political party.
Staff Comments: The following fees for filing declarations of
candidacy must be paid to the Secretary of State by each
candidate:
(1) Two percent of the first-year salary for the office of
United States Senator or for any state office except the office
of state Senator, Member of the Assembly, member of the State
Board of Equalization, or justice of the court of appeal.
(2) One percent of the first-year salary for the office of
Representative in Congress, member of the State Board of
Equalization, or justice of the court of appeal.
(3) One percent of the first-year salary for the office of
state Senator or Member of the Assembly.
Current law provides that, instead of paying a filing fee when
submitting nomination papers, a candidate may submit a petition
containing signatures of registered voters in lieu of a filing
fee as follows:
(1) For the office of California State Assembly: 1,500
signatures.
(2) For the office of California State Senate and the United
States House of Representatives: 3,000 signatures.
(3) For candidates running for statewide office: 10,000
signatures.
(4) For all other offices for which a filing fee is required,
if the number of registered voters in the district in which he
or she seeks nomination is 2,000 or more, a candidate may submit
a petition containing four signatures of registered voters for
each dollar of
the filing fee, or 10 percent of the total of registered voters
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in the district in which he or she seeks nomination, whichever
is less.
(5) For all other offices for which a filing fee is required,
if the number of registered voters in the district in which he
or she seeks nomination is less than 2,000, a candidate may
submit a petition containing four signatures of registered
voters for each
dollar of the filing fee, or 20 percent of the total of
registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks
nomination, whichever is less.
Existing law provides that a felony punishable pursuant to Penal
Code Section 1170(h) where the term is not specified in the
underlying offense shall be punishable by a term of imprisonment
in a county jail for 16 months, or two or three years, unless
the defendant has a prior conviction for a serious or violent
felony, or is required to register as a sex offender, in which
case the executed sentence must be served in state prison. The
creation of new crimes imposes a state-mandated local program
resulting in non-reimbursable local enforcement costs, offset to
a degree by fine revenue. Violations of this section resulting
in commitment to state prison are estimated to be rare, if any.
SB 1043 will close a loophole in the penalty provisions of the
Election Code regarding fraud on signatures-in-lieu petitions
and party qualification petitions which will enable the
Secretary of State's fraud investigations unit in cooperation
with local district attorneys to be more effective in their
efforts to prosecute this type of election fraud.