Compensation of circulators of election petitions

· Requires the circulator of any election petition for a statewide candidate or statewide initiative or referendum ballot issue to identify, on the circulator's statement, the name of the person employing the circulator to circulate the petition, if any (secs. 3501.38(E), 3513.07, and 3513.261).

· Requires any person who will receive compensation for supervising, managing, or otherwise organizing any effort to obtain signatures for a statewide election petition, before any signatures are obtained or before the person is engaged in that position (whichever is later), to file a statement to that effect with the Secretary of State (sec. 3501.381(A)(1)).

· Requires any person who will compensate a person for supervising, managing, or otherwise organizing any effort to obtain signatures for a statewide election petition, before any signatures are obtained or before the person is engaged (whichever is later), to file a statement to that effect with the Secretary of State (sec. 3501.381(A)(2)).

· Specifies that whoever violates either of the latter two requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, and requires that the petition for which a person was compensated for supervising, managing, or otherwise organizing the effort to obtain signatures be deemed invalid (sec. 3501.381(C)).

· Requires the Secretary of State to prescribe the form and content for the statements referred to in the descriptions of the latter two requirements, and to include in the prescribed form a notice that no person shall be compensated on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis (sec. 3501.381(B)).

· Prohibits a person from receiving compensation on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis for circulating an election-related petition, and specifies that whoever violates this prohibition is guilty of election falsification, which is a felony of the fifth degree (sec. 3599.111(B) and (E)(1)).

· Requires the forms for declarations of candidacy and petitions, for nominating petitions, and other election-related petitions to include, in boldface capital letters, a notice that the circulator is prohibited by law from receiving compensation on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis (secs. 3501.38(J)(2), 3513.07, and 3513.261).

· Specifies that compensation for circulating an election-related petition must be paid solely on the basis of time worked and that whoever violates this provision is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree (sec. 3599.111(D) and (E)(2)).

Compensation of persons assisting applicants to register to vote

· Requires voter registration forms that the Secretary of State must prescribe to include a space on which a person registering an applicant to vote must sign the person's name, a space on which the person registering an applicant must name the employer who is employing that person to register the applicant, and a notice that no person shall be compensated on a fee per registration or fee per volume basis for registering an applicant (sec. 3503.14(A)).

· Exempts election officials and employees of designated agencies who are registering applicants from the requirement of signing their names and identifying their employers on voter registration forms (sec. 3503.14(A)).

· Specifies that voter registration forms must not be rejected solely on the basis that a person registering an applicant failed to sign the person's name or failed to name the employer who is employing that person to register an applicant (sec. 3503.14(C)).

· Prohibits a person from receiving compensation on a fee per registration or fee per volume basis for registering a voter, and specifies that whoever violates this prohibition is guilty of election falsification, which is a felony of the fifth degree (sec. 3599.111(C) and (E)(1)).

· Specifies that compensation for registering voters must be paid solely on the basis of time worked and that whoever violates this provision is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree (sec. 3599.111(D) and (E)(2)).

· Defines "registering an applicant" or "registering a voter" for these purposes as including any effort, for compensation, to provide voter registration forms or to assist persons in completing those forms or returning them to the board of elections, the office of the Secretary of State, or other appropriate public office (secs. 3503.14(D) and 3599.111(A)).

Residency requirements for circulators and signers of election-related petitions

· Prohibits any person from circulating any declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or recall petition unless that person is a registered elector and will have resided in the county and precinct where registered for at least 30 days at the time of the next election (sec. 3503.06(B)).

· Prohibits any person from circulating any initiative or referendum petition unless that person has been a resident of the state for at least 30 days before the person circulates the petition (sec. 3503.06(C)).

· Continues current law's prohibition against any person signing any declaration of candidacy, any nominating petition, or any recall petition unless that person is a registered elector and will have resided in the county and precinct where registered for at least 30 days at the time of the next election (sec. 3503.06(A)).

· Removes signers of initiative or referendum petitions from the latter prohibition (sec. 3503.06(A)), but their qualifications continue to be specified in statutes not in the bill (for example, secs. 3501.38 and 3519.10).

Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the Special Session of the 125th General Assembly implications

· Provides in uncodified law that the versions of sections 3501.38, 3503.14, 3513.07, and 3513.261 of the Revised Code, as amended by the bill, and the versions of sections 3501.381 and 3599.111, as enacted by the bill, prevail over the versions of those sections presented in Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the Special Session of the 125th General Assembly (Section 3 of the bill).

HISTORY

ACTION	DATE	JOURNAL ENTRY

Introduced	03-29-05	p. 348

S0115-I-126.doc/jc