The October 2 Sacramento Bee has this column by Dan Walters, the paper’s veteran political commentator. The column discusses AB 857, the bill to require that at least 10% of all signatures for initiatives must be gathered by unpaid workers. Governor Jerry Brown has until October 13 to decide whether to sign or veto the bill.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Doesn’t this part violate Gralike?
“NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: THIS PETITION IS BEING CIRCULATED BY A PERSON PAID TO OBTAIN YOUR SIGNATURE. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO READ THE CONTENTS OF THIS PETITION BEFORE SIGNING.”
Why wouldn’t the State want to encourage voters to read the contents of any petition?
The Constitution says:
“(b) An initiative measure may be proposed by presenting to the Secretary of State a petition that sets forth the text of the proposed statute or amendment to the Constitution and is certified to have been signed by electors equal in number to 5 percent in the case of a statute, and 8 percent in the case of an amendment to the Constitution, of the votes for all candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial election.”
Is California going to claim that some of the “signatures” aren’t actually signatures?
What if a person signs two petitions?