Signed by Governor Doug Ducey

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that establishes guidelines for obtaining signatures on recall petitions.

Highlights:

• Establishes for a public officer elected at a nonpartisan election, the last preceding general election is the last preceding election at which the public officer who is the subject of the recall was declared elected (Sec. 2.A).

• Requires the person applying for recall to submit to the filing officer a separate electronic copy of the general statement in the format prescribed by the filing officer (Sec. 3-3.B).

• Establishes signatures obtained on recall petitions in violation of this law are void and will not be counted in determining the legal sufficiency of the petition. The presence of signatures that are invalidated does not invalidate other signatures on the petition (Sec. 5.E).

• Requires the Secretary of State to make available a sample recall petition to any person or organization that uses the sample recall petition of the Secretary of State is presumed to have strictly complied with all requirements (Sec. 6).

• Establishes all circulators who are not residents of the state and all paid circulators must register before circulating petitions. The person or organization that is circulating the petition will collect and submit the completed registration applications to the secretary of state (Sec. 8.A).

• Prohibits any of the following by making an individual guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor (Sec. 9.C):

• Signs any name other than the person’s own to a petition, except in a circumstance where the person signs for another person, in the presence of and at the specific request of that person, who is incapable of signing the person’s name, because of physical infirmity;

• Signs the person’s name more than once for the same recall issue, at one election;

• Is not at the time of signing a qualified elector of this state;

• Fills out the name and address portion of the petition with the intent to commit fraud; and

• Violates any provision of this chapter, whether or not the person is an election officer.

• Establishes a person commits recall petition signature fraud if the person does either of the following within the intent to defraud(Sec. 10.A):

• Intentionally collects for filing recall petition signature sheets with the knowledge that the person whose name appears on the signature sheet did not sign the petition; or

• Uses any fraudulent means, method, trick, device, or artifice to obtain signatures on a recall petition.

Full Bill Text