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AB-1117 Initiative petitions: electronic access.(2013-2014)

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 24, 2013
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2013

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1117

Introduced by Assembly Member Donnelly

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 9014.5 to the Elections Code, relating to petitions.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1117, as amended, Donnelly. Initiative petitions: electronic access.
Existing law specifies the process by which a statewide initiative or referendum measure may be qualified for the ballot, and requires the Secretary of State to prepare and provide to any person, on request, a pamphlet describing certain aspects of that process.

This bill would require the Secretary of State to make available the petition for an initiative or referendum measure that is currently in circulation in a format that can be downloaded from the official Internet Web site of the Secretary of State and printed so a voter may sign the petition and submit it to the proponent or proponents by mail. The bill would require the Secretary of State to provide the mailing address where a signed petition can be sent and make that address available to the public on the Secretary of State’s official Internet Web site.

This bill would require the Secretary of State to provide on his or her Internet Web site an electronic mail address at which the proponent of a proposed initiative or referendum measure may submit to the Secretary of State a copy of the petition for the proposed measure in portable document format. The bill would require the Secretary of State, within 2 business days of receiving a petition in this manner, to provide on his or her Internet Web site a hyperlink by which the petition is available to the public and can be downloaded and printed. The bill would require that a specified disclaimer be included on the Internet Web page that makes the petition available to the public.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 9014.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

9014.5.
 (a) The Secretary of State shall provide on his or her Internet Web site an electronic mail address at which the proponent of a proposed initiative or referendum measure may submit to the Secretary of State a copy of the petition for the proposed measure in portable document format (PDF). The
(b) Within two business days of receiving a petition for a proposed initiative or referendum measure pursuant to subdivision (a), the Secretary of State shall make available the provide on his or her Internet Web site a hyperlink that is easily accessible to the public and makes available the petition for an the proposed initiative or referendum measure that is currently in circulation in a format that can be downloaded and printed. from the official Internet Web site of the Secretary of State and printed so a voter may sign the petition and submit it to the proponent or proponents by mail. The Secretary of State shall provide the mailing address where a signed petition can be sent and make that mailing address available to the public on the Secretary of State’s official Internet Web site. If the Secretary of State maintains an Internet Web page regarding proposed initiative and referendum measures currently in circulation, the hyperlink shall be made available on that Internet Web page.
(c) The Secretary of State shall include on the Internet Web page from which a petition for a proposed initiative or referendum measure may be downloaded and printed a disclaimer stating that the petition was prepared by the proponent of the proposed measure, that the proponent is solely responsible for its contents, and that the Secretary of State does not warrant or represent that the petition is in correct legal form.
(d) The Secretary of State shall remove a hyperlink to a petition for a proposed initiative or referendum measure placed on his or her Internet Web site pursuant to subdivision (b) within two business days after the final date for circulation of the petition.