CA Bill to Change Petition Signature Requirement in Lieu of Filing Fee

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

A California Bill (AB 469) changes the number of Petition Signatures in lieu of a Filing Fee. The bill decreases the number of signatures needed in lieu of the filing fee. But it also shrinks the amount of Time in which these Signatures can be Gathered.

The Peace & Freedom Party's Activism is responsible for the Drop in the Signatures.

The Bill passed the Assembly Elections Committee and will soon receive a Vote on the Assembly floor.

SECTION 1. Section 8106 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

8106. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a candidate may submit a petition containing signatures of registered voters in lieu of a filing fee as follows:

(1) For the office of California State Assembly, 1,500 1,000 signatures.

(2) For the office of California State Senate and the United States House of Representatives, 3,000 2,000 signatures.

(3) For candidates running for statewide office, 10,000 7,000 signatures.

(4) For all other offices for which a filing fee is required, if the number of registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks nomination is 2,000 or more, a candidate may submit a petition containing four three signatures of registered voters for each dollar of the filing fee, or 10 seven percent of the total of registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks nomination, whichever is less.

(5) For all other offices for which a filing fee is required, if the number of registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks nomination is less than 2,000, a candidate may submit a petition containing four three signatures of registered voters for each dollar of the filing fee, or 20 14 percent of the total of registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks nomination, whichever is less.

In-lieu-filing-fee petitions shall be filed at least 30 days before the close of the nomination period. Within 10 days after receipt of a petition, the elections official shall notify the candidate of any deficiency. The candidate shall then, at the time of obtaining nomination forms, pay a pro rata portion of the filing fee to cover the deficiency.

(4) If the petition is circulated for an office in more than one county, the candidate shall submit the signatures to the elections official in the county in which the petition was circulated. The elections official shall, at least two days after verifying the signatures on the petition, notify the Secretary of State of the total number of valid signatures. If the number of signatures is insufficient, the Secretary of State shall notify the candidate and the elections officials of the fact. The candidate may submit the necessary number of valid signatures at least 30 days before the close of the period for circulating nomination papers.











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