H 3875 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 3875 General Bill, By H.H. Clyborne, Allison, B.O. Baker, J.M. Baxley, Cato,
C.D. Chamblee, Cooper, Fair, R.C. Fulmer, Gamble, S.E. Gonzales, L.O. Graham,
Harrell, J.L. Harris, P.B. Harris, Harrison, T.E. Huff, H.G. Hutson, Keegan,
W.D. Keyserling, Klauber, C.V. Marchbanks, Meacham, Quinn, I.K. Rudnick, Sharpe,
Simrill, D. Smith, Stuart, P.H. Thomas, Vaughn, C.Y. Waites, C.C. Wells and
Young-Brickell
A Bill to amend Title 2, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the
General Assembly, by adding Chapter 8, The Initiative Petition Act, so as to
provide requirements for the enactment of laws and Constitutional amendments
by initiative petitions and to provide penalties for violations.
04/07/93 House Introduced and read first time HJ-12
04/07/93 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-13
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 2, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, RELATING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY ADDING
CHAPTER 8, THE INITIATIVE PETITION ACT, SO AS TO
PROVIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ENACTMENT OF LAWS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS BY INITIATIVE
PETITIONS AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 2 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 8
Initiative Petition Act
Section 2-8-10. This chapter may be cited as the Initiative Petition
Act.
Section 2-8-20. As provided under Article XVII of the Constitution
of this State, qualified electors, by joining in a petition to be filed in the
office of the State Election Commission, may initiate a desired statutory
law or constitutional amendment and cause the same to be submitted to
the qualified electors of this State at the next general election.
Section 2-8-30. (A) No measure that regulates religious institutions
or impedes religious practices; or relates to the appointment,
qualification, tenure, removal, recall, or compensation of judges, or to
the reversal of a judicial decision; or relates to the powers, creation, or
abolition of courts; or a measure the operation of which is restricted to
a particular municipality or other political subdivision; or that makes a
specific appropriation of state funds, may be proposed by an initiative
petition. However, if a law ratified by the General Assembly pursuant
to this chapter is not repealed, the General Assembly shall appropriate
the money necessary to implement the law.
(B) No measure that relates to more than one subject may be
proposed by an initiative petition.
Section 2-8-40. (A) Before circulating a petition proposing a
statutory law or a constitutional amendment, an application, developed
by the State Election Commission, along with five certified copies must
be filed in the office of the State Election Commission. The application
must be signed by no fewer than five qualified electors, hereinafter
designated as `sponsors'. Each sponsor shall sign the application,
provide his complete address, precinct, and voter registration number,
and shall acknowledge his signature under oath before an officer
competent to administer oaths. The application must include a copy of
the petition that sets forth a full and correct copy of the proposed
measure.
(B) The State Election Commission shall certify whether or not the
measure in an application filed pursuant to subsection (A):
(1) is in proper form as to text and title for submission to the
people;
(2) is not, either affirmatively or negatively, substantially the
same as any measure which has been qualified for submission or
submitted to the people at the preceding statewide general election;
(3) relates to only one subject; and
(4) relates to a subject not excluded pursuant to Section 2-8-30.
(C) If the application meets the requirements of subsection (A) of
this section and the commission certifies that the proposed measure
meets the requirements of subsection (B) of this section, the commission
shall approve the application.
(D) The commission shall provide blanks for the use of subsequent
signers and shall print at the top of each blank a fair, concise summary
of the proposed measure. The summary of both a statutory law and a
constitutional amendment must be prepared by the State Constitutional
Ballot Commission. If the measure is placed on the ballot, the summary
from the petition must also appear on the ballot.
(E) After an application is approved, the State Election Commission
shall, within ten days, furnish a certified copy of the petition to each
sponsor and sufficient blanks for subsequent signatures.
(F) No signature on a petition is valid unless it is made in the
presence of a qualified elector. Every blank sheet containing signatures
must be certified by the qualified elector who circulated the sheet or
petition, setting forth that each of the names on the sheet was signed in
the presence of the qualified elector and that in the belief of the qualified
elector each signer was a qualified elector of the state. Two witnesses
are required for the certification of each blank sheet by the qualified
elector who circulated the sheet or petition.
The certification must be in the following form printed on the reverse
side of each blank sheet:
Certification of Circulator
State of South Carolina
Social Security #:
I, (print name) , a qualified elector in the county of
, in the State of South Carolina, under the penalty of law,
certify and say that each petitioner signed this sheet of the foregoing
petition in my presence on the date indicated, and I believe that each
signer's name, residence address or post office address are correctly
stated, and that each signer is a qualified elector of the State of South
Carolina.
(Signature of circulator)
(residence address, street and
number, if any of circulator)
Post office address, if any,
of circulator)
(Date)
(Signature & Date of Witness #1)
(Signature & Date of Witness #2)
(G) Upon receipt of certified petition copies, the sponsors and
qualified electors shall circulate and obtain all signatures on the
initiative petition within twelve months. A signature obtained more than
twelve months before the filing date is invalid except as otherwise
provided under Section 2-8-60(E).
Section 2-8-50. A valid signature on the initiative petition must
include the name, complete address, precinct and voter registration
number of the signer, and the date of the signature. However, if the
signer does not know his precinct and voter registration number, he may
provide his driver's license number or social security number instead.
In addition to the petitioner's signature, his first and last names must also
be printed legibly in the provided space.
Section 2-8-60. (A) Each initiative petition, when signed and
verified as provided in this chapter, must be delivered at least one
hundred eighty days before any general election to the State Election
Commission so that the commission may determine whether or not the
petition conforms to the requirements of this chapter.
(B) Every blank with signatures must be attached to a certified copy
of the petition before submitting the certified petition copies to the State
Election Commission.
(C) The State Election Commission shall check all of the names of
the signers against official voter registration lists and certify on each
petition whether or not each name is that of a qualified elector. The
number of names appearing on each verified petition copy that are
certified as qualified electors must be counted. If the number of names
properly signed, verified, and certified equals at least eight percent of
the total vote for Governor cast in the last gubernatorial election
preceding the filing of the petition as required by Article XVII of the
Constitution of this State, the State Election Commission shall mark the
petition as sufficient. If the number of names properly signed, verified,
and certified does not equal or exceed eight percent of the total vote for
Governor cast in the last gubernatorial election preceding the filing of
the petition, the State Election Commission shall mark the petition as
insufficient.
(D) The State Election Commission shall notify any one of the
petition's sponsors of its finding within sixty days of the date the petition
was filed.
(E) Upon receipt of notice that the filing of the petition was
insufficient, the sponsors of the initiative petition may amend and
correct the petition by circulating and filing a supplementary petition
within sixty days of the date that notice was given, but the
supplementary petition must be filed not later than the date provided in
subsection (A).
Section 2-8-70. If the State Election Commission determines that
the petition meets the requirements of this chapter and declares the
petition sufficient, the commission shall submit the proposed law or
constitutional amendment to the qualified electors of this State at the
next general election.
Section 2-8-80. (A) A proposed statutory law or constitutional
amendment submitted to the people by initiative that is approved by a
majority of the qualified electors voting on the proposed law or
constitutional amendment becomes a statutory law of this State or a part
of the Constitution upon ratification by the General Assembly. The
State Election Commission shall certify the results to the General
Assembly.
(B) No statutory law or constitutional amendment ratified by the
General Assembly pursuant to this chapter is subject to veto by the
Governor.
(C) A statutory law enacted pursuant to this chapter may be amended
or repealed by the General Assembly after it takes effect. A
constitutional amendment enacted pursuant to this chapter may be
amended or repealed in the manner provided in this chapter or as
provided in Article XVI of the Constitution of this State.
(D) If provisions of two or more measures approved at the same
election conflict, those of the measure receiving the highest affirmative
vote shall prevail.
Section 2-8-90. (A) Within ten days of certification by the Board
of State Canvassers of the general election's results in which a proposed
law or constitutional amendment is submitted to the people by initiative,
a qualified elector who signed the petition to submit the measure may
appeal the election's results to the State Election Commission.
(B) A defeated initiative may not be resubmitted to the qualified
electors of this State until the second general election following the
general election in which the initiative was defeated.
Section 2-8-100. (A) Every person who is a qualified elector of this
State may sign a petition for the initiation of any measure upon which
he is legally entitled to vote. A person signing a name other than his
own to a petition, or knowingly signing his name more than once for the
same measure at one election, or who is not at the time he signs the
petition a qualified elector of this State, or who knowingly gives or
receives money or any other thing of value for signing an initiative
petition, or an officer or person who knowingly and wilfully violates a
provision of this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction, must be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand
dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or both.
(B) No person, corporation, or association of persons may pay to or
receive from any other person, corporation, or association of persons any
money or other thing of value in consideration of or as inducement to the
circulation of any initiative petition. A person, corporation, or
association of persons who pays to or receives from any other person,
corporation, or association of persons any money or other thing of value
in consideration of or as an inducement to the circulation of any
initiative petition is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, must
be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by
imprisonment for not more than ninety days, or both. However, the
payment of reasonable and necessary travel expenses or for food and
beverages consumed by the sponsors or volunteers in the course of
circulating the petition are not prohibited.
(C) No person, corporation, association of persons, or public body,
as defined by Section 2-17-10(16), may use or authorize the use of
public funds, property, or time to influence the outcome of an initiative
petition.
Section 2-8-110. (A) All provisions of this chapter are subject to the
provisions of Article 13, Chapter 13 of Title 8.
(B) Upon receiving contributions or making expenditures in excess
of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle, the
sponsors of an initiative petition shall file a statement of organization
and certified campaign reports pursuant to the provisions of Article 13,
Chapter 13 of Title 8."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect on the ratification of an amendment
to the Constitution of this State authorizing the provisions of this act.
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