Bill Text: CA AB3197 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Elections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-07-15 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 120, Statutes of 2024. [AB3197 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB3197-Chaptered.html
Assembly Bill
No. 3197
CHAPTER 120
An act to amend Sections 100 and 13307 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.
[
Approved by
Governor
July 15, 2024.
Filed with
Secretary of State
July 15, 2024.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 3197, Lackey.
Elections.
Existing law requires the gathering of a specified number of signatures by petition to nominate a candidate or qualify a measure or recall for the ballot, among other purposes. Existing law requires elections officials to verify the signatures on a petition in accordance with specified procedures.
This bill would authorize a county elections official who verifies signatures on petitions or papers that are required to be signed by voters of a county, city, school district, or special district subject to petitioning to establish and
require the use of a standardized petition form for distribution within and submission to the county.
Existing law authorizes a candidate for nonpartisan elective office in a local agency to prepare a candidate’s statement on a form provided by the elections official, as specified. If the elections official who is conducting the election permits electronic distribution of a candidate’s statement, existing law
permits the governing body of a local agency to permit a candidate for nonpartisan elective office in the local agency to prepare a candidate’s statement for the purpose of electronic distribution.
This bill instead would permit a candidate for nonpartisan elective office in the local agency to prepare a candidate’s statement for the purposes of electronic distribution if the elections official who is conducting the election or the county elections official who is conducting the local agency’s election, including a local election consolidated with the county election, permits electronic distribution.
The bill would make additional nonsubstantive changes.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 100 of the Elections Code is amended to read:100.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever an initiative, referendum, recall, nominating petition or paper, or any other petition or paper is required to be signed by voters of a county, city, school district, or special district subject to petitioning, only a person who is an eligible registered voter at the time of signing the petition or paper is entitled to sign the petition or paper. A person who submits their affidavit of registration pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 2102 is not eligible to sign a petition or paper unless at the time of the signing of the petition or paper that person is 18 years of age.(b) A signer shall at the time of signing the petition or paper personally affix their signature, printed name, and place of residence, including the street and number of the place of residence, and if no street or number for the place of residence exists, then a designation of the place of residence that will enable the location to be readily ascertained. An incomplete or inaccurate apartment or unit number in the signer’s residence address shall not invalidate their signature pursuant to Section 105. A space at least one inch wide shall be left blank after each name for the use of the elections official in verifying the petition or paper.
(c) The part of a petition for the signatures, printed names, and residence addresses of
the voters and for the blank spaces for verification purposes shall be numbered consecutively commencing with the number one and continuing through the number of signature spaces allotted to each section. The petition format shall be substantially in the following form:
Official Use Only |
(Print Name) 1. (Signature) | (Residence Address ONLY) (City) | |
(Print Name) 2. (Signature) | (Residence Address ONLY) (City) |
(d) A county elections official who verifies signatures on an initiative, referendum, recall, nominating petition or paper, or any other petition or paper that is required to be signed by voters of a county, city, school district, or special district subject to petitioning may establish and require the use of a standardized petition form for distribution within and submission to the county.
SEC. 2.
Section 13307 of the Elections Code is amended to read:13307.
(a) (1) Each candidate for nonpartisan elective office in any local agency, including any city, county, city and county, or district, may prepare a candidate’s statement on an appropriate form provided by the elections official. The statement may include the name, age, and occupation of the candidate and a brief description, of no more than 200 words, of the candidate’s own education and qualifications expressed by the candidate. However, the governing body of the local agency may authorize an increase in the limitations on words for the statement from 200 to 400 words. The statement shall not include the party affiliation of the candidate, nor membership or activity in partisan political organizations.(2) The statement authorized by this subdivision shall be filed in the office of the elections official when the candidate’s nomination papers are returned for filing, if it is for a primary election, or for an election for offices for which there is no primary. The statement shall be filed in the office of the elections official no later than the 88th day before the election, if it is for an election for which nomination papers are not required to be filed. If a runoff election or general election occurs within 88 days of the primary or first election, the statement shall be filed with the elections official by the third day following the governing body’s declaration of the results from the primary or first election.
(3) Except as provided in Section 13309, the statement may be withdrawn,
but not changed, during the period for filing nomination papers and until 5 p.m. of the next working day after the close of the nomination period.
(b) (1) The elections official shall send to each voter a county voter information guide that contains the written statements of each candidate that is prepared pursuant to subdivision (a). The statement of each candidate shall be printed in type of uniform size and darkness, and with uniform spacing.
(2) The elections official shall provide a Spanish translation to those candidates who wish to have one, and shall select a person to provide that translation who is one of the following:
(A) A certified and registered interpreter on the Judicial Council Master
List.
(B) An interpreter categorized as “certified” or “professionally qualified” by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
(C) From an institution accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education.
(D) A current voting member in good standing of the American Translators Association.
(E) A current member in good standing of the American Association of Language Specialists.
(c) (1) In addition to the statement prepared pursuant to subdivision (a), if the elections official who is conducting the election
or the county elections official who is conducting a local agency’s election, including a local election that is consolidated with the county election, permits electronic distribution of a candidate’s statement, each candidate for nonpartisan elective office in the local agency may prepare a candidate’s statement for the purpose of electronic distribution pursuant to this subdivision.
(2) A statement prepared pursuant to this subdivision shall be posted on the website of the elections official, and may be included in a voter’s pamphlet that is electronically distributed by the elections official pursuant to Section 13300.7, but shall not be included in a voter’s pamphlet that is printed and mailed to voters pursuant to subdivision (b).
(3) A statement that is printed in the voter’s
pamphlet and mailed to voters pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be included with the statement that is prepared and electronically distributed pursuant to this subdivision.
(4) A statement that is prepared and electronically distributed pursuant to this subdivision shall be displayed in type of uniform size and darkness, and with uniform spacing.
(5) The elections official shall provide a Spanish translation to those candidates who wish to have one, and shall select a person to provide that translation who is one of the persons listed in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).
(d) The local agency may estimate the total cost of printing, handling, translating, mailing, and electronically distributing candidate’s
statements filed pursuant to this section, including costs incurred as a result of complying with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended. The local agency may require each candidate filing a statement to pay in advance to the local agency the candidate’s estimated pro rata share as a condition of having the candidate’s statement included in the county voter information guide or electronically distributed. In the event the estimated payment is required, the receipt for the payment shall
include a written notice that the estimate is just an approximation of the actual cost that varies from one election to another election and may be significantly more or less than the estimate, depending on the actual number of candidates filing statements. Accordingly, the local agency is not bound by the estimate and may, on a pro rata basis, bill the candidate for additional actual expense or refund any excess paid depending on the final actual cost. In the event of underpayment, the local agency may require the candidate to pay the balance of the cost incurred. In the event of overpayment, the local agency that, or the elections official who, collected the estimated cost shall prorate the excess amount among the candidates and refund the excess amount paid within 30 days of the election.
(e) This section shall not be
deemed to make any statement, or the authors of any statement, free or exempt from any civil or criminal action or penalty because of any false, slanderous, or libelous statements offered for printing electronic distribution pursuant to this section or contained in the county voter information guide.
(f) Before the nominating period opens, the local agency for that election shall determine whether a charge shall be levied against that candidate for the candidate’s statement sent to each voter and, if authorized pursuant to subdivision (c), for the electronically distributed candidate’s statement. This decision shall not be revoked or modified after the seventh day before the opening of the nominating period. A written statement of the regulations with respect to charges for handling, packaging, mailing, and electronic distribution shall
be provided to each candidate or each candidate’s representative, at the time they pick up the nomination papers.
(g) For purposes of this section and Section 13310, the board of supervisors is the governing body of judicial elections.
