H 4330 Session 109 (1991-1992)
H 4330 General Bill, By H.H. Clyborne
A Bill to provide for the enactment of legislation by initiative petition.
02/04/92 House Introduced and read first time HJ-13
02/04/92 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-13
03/25/92 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary HJ-6
04/01/92 House Objection by Rep. L.Martin, Whipper, Rama, Ross,
Klapman, Wright & Hodges HJ-43
05/19/92 House Objection withdrawn by Rep. Rama, L. Martin &
Wright HJ-56
05/19/92 House Objection by Rep. Rogers, Keyserling & Delleney HJ-56
05/19/92 House Objection withdrawn by Rep. Klapman HJ-56
05/19/92 House Objection by Rep. White HJ-56
06/02/92 House Objection withdrawn by Rep. Rogers HJ-56
COMMITTEE REPORT
March 25, 1992
H. 4330
Introduced by REP. Clyborne
S. Printed 3/25/92--H.
Read the first time February 4, 1992.
THE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
To whom was referred a Bill (H. 4330), to provide for the enactment
of legislation by initiative petition, etc., respectfully
REPORT:
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and
recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting
words and inserting:
/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 relates to religion, religious
practices, or religious institutions; or to the appointment, qualification,
tenure, removal, recall, or compensation of judges, or to the reversal of
a judicial decision; or to the powers, creation, or abolition of courts; or
the operation of which is restricted to a particular municipality or other
political division; or state appropriations may be proposed by an
initiative petition. However, if a law approved by the people 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repealed, the General Assembly shall appropriate the money necessary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. No additional sponsors may be added
after the original application is filed. 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. No blank may be circulated for signatures
unless it is attached to a certified petition copy.
(F) Upon receipt of certified petition copies, the sponsors shall
circulate and obtain all signatures on the initiative petition blanks within
six months. A signature obtained more than six months before the filing
date is invalid.
Section 2-8-50. (A) 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.
(B) No signature on a petition is valid unless it is made in the
presence of a sponsor. Each separate sheet of the petition containing
signatures must be verified on the back by the sponsor in whose
presence the sheets were signed.
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 the petition
conforms to the requirements of this chapter.
(B) The State Election Commission shall check all of the names
of the signers against official voter registration lists and certify on the
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 or exceeds ten percent of
the qualified electors eligible to vote at the last general election 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 the ten percent of the qualified electors eligible to vote at the last
general election as required by Article XVII of the Constitution of this
State, the State Election Commission shall mark the petition as
insufficient. The State Election Commission shall notify any one of the
petition's sponsors of its finding.
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 on July first following the general election. The State
Election Commission shall certify the results to the Code Commissioner
who shall assign the statutory law or constitutional amendment to an
appropriate place in the code of laws or the constitution.
(B) No statutory law or constitutional amendment adopted by the
people is subject to veto by the Governor.
(C) A statutory law approved by the people pursuant to this
chapter may be amended or repealed by the General Assembly after it
takes effect. A constitutional amendment approved by the people
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 within four years of the general election in which
the initiative was defeated.
Section 2-8-100. 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 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."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect on the ratification of an
amendment to the Constitution of this State authorizing the provisions
of this act./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
DAVID H. WILKINS, for Committee.
A BILL
TO PROVIDE FOR THE ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION BY
INITIATIVE PETITION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The General Assembly authorizes the enactment of
legislation by citizen initiative petition as follows:
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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