For Immediate Release
March 25, 2008

Contact: Jeff Barbosa
(916) 319-2020
Torrico Bill Would Crack Down On Signature Gatherers’ False Statements
AB 1914 would add more teeth to election laws by increasing responsibility on employers of signature gatherers who intentionally mislead voters.

SACRAMENTO – A bill by Assembly Member Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) to impose more responsibility on proponents of initiative petitioners whose hired signature gatherers are intentionally misleading voters passed the Assembly Election and Redistricting Committee today on a 5-0-2 vote.  The bill, AB 1914, now heads to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Following up on a pledge he made during his annual State of the 20th District Address last fall, Torrico’s bill targets bait and switch tactics used by signature gatherers.

“This bill will bring more accountability and integrity to the signature gathering process by also holding the petition’s proponents responsible for the actions of their circulators,” Torrico said.

Currently, it is misdemeanor for a petition circulator to use false statements or to misrepresent a petition’s contents in order to receive that voter’s signature on the petition.  However, the proponents who hired the circulator and who may have known about the illegal activity are held harmless and the signatures, illegally collected, still count.

Under Torrico’s bill, the proponents of the petition could be held civilly liable if they knew about the circulator’s actions but failed to act.  Individuals who signed a petition handled by a circulator who is subsequently convicted of misleading voters, must be contacted by the proponent to determine if they still want their names on the petition.

These days very few campaigns attempt to qualify initiative petitions with volunteer signature gatherers.  The vast majority use professionals, who are paid anywhere from $1 to $3 per signature.
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