Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:3875 Primary Sponsor:Clyborne Committee Number:25 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Initiative Petition Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Computer Document Number:JIC/5688HC.93 Introduced Date:19930407 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19930407 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Clyborne Waites Allison Baker Baxley Cato Chamblee Cooper Fair Fulmer Gamble Gonzales Graham Harrell J. Harris P. Harris Harrison Huff Hutson Keegan Keyserling Klauber Marchbanks Meacham Quinn Rudnick Sharpe Simrill D. Smith Stuart Thomas Vaughn Wells A. Young Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
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3875 House 19930407 Introduced, read first time, 25
referred to Committee
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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:
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 However, if a law ratified by the General Assembly pursuant to this chapter is not repealed, the General Assembly shall appropriate the money necessary to implement the law.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:
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.