California · Elections Code

ELEC §9610: (a) Prior to soliciting signatures on an initiative petition, a circulator shall execute and submit to the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathe

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

Initiative petition circulators must execute a signed statement acknowledging the misdemeanor prohibition on misusing signatures, and this certification must be kept on file for at least eight months after election certification or petition deadline.

Read the full statutory text
(a) Prior to soliciting signatures on an initiative petition, a circulator shall execute and submit to the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathering a signed statement that reads as follows: I, ___, acknowledge that it is a misdemeanor under state law (Section 18650 of the Elections Code) to knowingly or willfully allow the signatures on an initiative petition to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the proposed measure for the ballot. I certify that I will not knowingly or willfully allow the signatures for this initiative to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the measure for the ballot. (Signature of Circulator) Dated this ________ day of __________, 20___ (b) The certification required by subdivision (a) shall be kept on file by the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathering for the proposed initiative measure for not less than eight months after the certification of the results of the election for which the measure qualified, or if the measure, for any reason, is not submitted to the voters, eight months after the deadline for submission of the petition to the elections official. (c) This section shall not apply to unpaid circulators of state or local initiative petitions. (d) Failure to comply with this section shall not invalidate any signatures on a state or local initiative petition.

Verify at the official source: California legislative text

Facing this? Know exactly what happens next.

MOFRD turns this code section into your situation: the deadlines that apply to you, the forms your county uses, and the resolution paths people in your position actually take. Free for 3 days — no card required.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.