On July 30, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 27, which requires presidential primary candidates who want to have their names on the ballot to file five years of their federal income tax returns. Here is the Governor’s statement.
The Governor quoted three attorneys who say the bill is constitutional. One of them, Theodore Boutrous, said, “It will apply to any candidate for President, whether Republican, Democrat, or independent.” This is factually incorrect. The bill has no effect on independent presidential candidates, because it only relates to candidates running in a presidential primary, and independent presidential candidates have no connection with California’s presidential primary. Also the bill does not pertain to write-in candidates (in either the primary or general election), nor to party presidential nominees who appear on the November ballot.
Neither the Governor, nor any of the three attorneys he quoted, even mentions the California Constitution, which says in Article II, sec. 5(c), “The candidates on the (presidential primary) ballot are those found by the Secretary of State to be recognized candidates throughout the nation or throughout California.”
How many seconds before a court case is filed ???
In Gavin’s world, it’s Screw The US Constitution. This law is blatantly unconstitutional.
Hey Bob, the US Constitution says literally nothing about presidential primaries. Why are you talking out of your ass? The primaries are run by the states, in conjunction with the political parties, while caucuses are privately ran by the parties themselves. The federal government has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it. Only in the mind of a republican sheep is public disclosure a bad thing.