CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2881

Introduced by Assembly Member Harper
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lackey)

February 16, 2018

An act to amend Sections 11104, 11106, 11108, and 11324 of, and to add Section 11105 to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2881, as introduced, Harper. Recall elections.
The California Constitution enables electors to initiate a recall of state officers by gathering sufficient signatures within a 160-day period. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to notify a county elections official that a petition received a sufficient number of signatures to initiate a recall election. After this notice has been provided, existing law provides for a period of 30 business days in which voters who signed the petition may withdraw their signatures. Existing law requires local elections officials to submit signatures gathered by proponents of a recall to the Secretary of State at least every 30 days, and it also requires the examination and verification of each signature filed.
Under existing law, if a sufficient number of signatures are submitted to initiate a recall election, the Department of Finance, in consultation with the affected election officials and the Secretary of State, is required to estimate the costs of the recall election, as specified. Existing law also requires the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review and comment on the estimate.
This bill would remove the provisions requiring the examination and verification of each signature filed and would instead provide for signatures to be verified according to specified procedures, including the use of a random sampling technique. The bill would also remove the obligations on the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee with respect to estimating the costs of the recall election.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 11104 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

11104.
 (a) The elections official, 30 days after a recall has been initiated and every 30 days thereafter, or more frequently at the discretion of the elections official, shall report to the Secretary of State all of the following:
(1) The number of signatures submitted on the recall petition sections for the period ending five days previously, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
(2) The cumulative total of all signatures received since the time the recall was initiated and through the period ending five days previously, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
(3) The number of valid signatures, verified pursuant to subdivision (b), submitted during the previous reporting period, and of valid signatures verified during the current reporting period.
(4) The cumulative total of all valid signatures received since the time the recall was initiated and ending five days previously, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
(b) Signatures shall be verified in the same manner set forth in subdivision (b) of subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of Section 9030, and in Section 9031.
(c) The elections official, at the end of each 30-day period, shall attach to the petition a form provided by the Secretary of State, properly dated, that includes the information required by subdivision (a), and submit a copy of the petition, except as to the signatures appended thereto, to the Secretary of State and file a copy of the form in his or her office.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), and Section 11106, the elections official shall not be required to verify signatures on a recall petition until the signatures submitted equal at least 10 percent of the total signatures required to qualify the recall for the ballot, as determined by the Secretary of State.

SEC. 2.

 Section 11105 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

11105.
 Upon each submission, if fewer than 500 signatures are submitted to the elections official, he or she shall count the number of signatures and submit those results to the Secretary of State. If 500 or more signatures are submitted, the elections official may verify, using a random sampling technique, either 3 percent of the signatures submitted, or 500, whichever is greater. The random sample of signatures to be verified shall be drawn in a manner that every signature filed with the elections official shall be given an equal opportunity to be included in the sample. Upon completion of the signature verification, the elections official shall report the results to the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 11104.

SEC. 3.

 Section 11106 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

11106.
 Immediately after the deadline for submission of all signatures, the elections official shall verify any remaining signatures in the same manner set forth in subdivision (b) of subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of Section 9030, and in Section 9031. This verification shall apply to all signatures submitted to each county elections official.

SEC. 4.

 Section 11108 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

11108.
 (a)When the Secretary of State has received from one or more county elections officials a petition certified to have been signed by a sufficient the stated number of registered voters to initiate a recall election, voters, he or she shall, within 10 days, notify transmit to each county elections official of that fact. a certificate showing that fact, and showing the total number of signatures collected by the proponents. The county elections official shall file the certificate in his or her office.

(b)Notwithstanding any other law, any voter who has signed a recall petition under this chapter shall have his or her signature withdrawn from the petition upon the voter filing a written request that includes the voter’s name, residence address, and signature with the elections official within 30 business days of the Secretary of State’s notice provided by subdivision (a).

(c)No later than 10 business days after the withdrawal period provided by subdivision (b), the elections officials shall report to the Secretary of State the total number of signatures that have been withdrawn pursuant to subdivision (b). The Secretary of State shall promptly make a second preliminary determination of whether the petitions have been signed by the sufficient number of registered voters to initiate a recall election. If the petitions have not been signed by a sufficient number of registered voters, the Secretary of State shall notify the county elections officials to continue to verify signatures pursuant to Section 11104. The Secretary of State and elections officials shall continue to make the notifications and reports required by this section until such time as the Secretary of State determines that there is a sufficient number of verified signatures, not including withdrawn signatures, to initiate a recall election.

(d)Upon receipt of the notification from the Secretary of State required in subdivision (c) that there is a sufficient number of verified signatures, not including withdrawn signatures, to initiate a recall election, the Department of Finance shall, in consultation with the affected elections officials and the Secretary of State, estimate the costs of the recall election, including expenses for verifying signatures, printing ballots and voter information guides, and operating polling places. The Department shall estimate the costs that would be incurred if (1) the recall election is held as a special election and (2) the recall election is consolidated with the next regularly scheduled election pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 15 of Article II of the California Constitution. Within 30 business days of receipt of the Secretary of State’s notice of sufficient signatures to initiate a recall required by subdivision (c), the Department of Finance shall submit the estimate to the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

(e)Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary of State shall not certify the sufficiency of the signatures under Section 11109 until the Joint Legislative Budget Committee has had 30 days to review and comment on the estimate submitted by the Department of Finance pursuant to subdivision (d).

(f)The Secretary of State shall publish a copy of the estimate submitted by the Department of Finance on the Secretary of State’s public Internet Web site no later than 21 business days after the time for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review the estimate has expired.

(g)After the time for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to review the estimate has expired, the Director of Finance, or his or her designee, shall direct the Controller to remit to the elections official from those funds designated for that purpose in any budget act or other measure an amount that takes into consideration the amount of funds available for the purpose, the number of elections officials expected to conduct state recall elections held in that fiscal year, the Department of Finance’s estimates of the costs of each elections official to conduct each state recall election, and the amount reasonably necessary to conduct such recall election.

SEC. 5.

 Section 11324 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

11324.
 (a)The official responsible for preparing the ballot shall, at least 10 days before the recall election, mail a voter information guide to each registered voter of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer sought to be recalled.

(b)In the case of a recall of a state officer, the official responsible for preparing the voter information guide pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include in the voter information guide the report of estimated costs of the recall prepared by the Department of Finance pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 11108.