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AP17:092

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2017
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

Eliminates Restrictions on Voting by Felons in Prison or on Parole. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures this past Friday.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

ELIMINATES RESTRICTIONS ON VOTING BY FELONS IN PRISON OR ON PAROLE. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE. Eliminates existing restrictions on preregistering to vote, registering to vote, and voting by persons while they are in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: State prison costs of up to $1 million annually to register and provide ballots to prisoners. County election costs of a few hundred thousand dollars annually to register and provide ballots to prisoners and parolees. (17-0023.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1819 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 17-0023.

The proponent of the measure, Taina Vargas-Edmond, must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than April 25, 2018. The proponent can be reached at (510) 969-0375.

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