News from the Senate Majority
Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

Senate Votes to Strengthen Ballot Initiative Law

Prohibits Signature Bounty Hunters

For Immediate Release: March 23,1998 Contact: Senator Bert Sharp at (907) 465-3004.

Juneau – The Senate unanimously passed legislation Monday to return the ballot initiative process to a more grassroots effort by prohibiting the exchange of money for signatures and eliminating the 30-day grace period extending beyond the initiative deadline.

"The initiative process is supposed to reflect public opinion – not provide some individuals a way to earn an easy buck," said Sharp, sponsor of Senate Bill 313. "We assume that people working to obtain signatures on a ballot initiative are volunteers who believe strongly in their cause. Unfortunately, some solicitors are bounty hunters who are paid by the sponsor of the initiative to gather signatures."

Sharp’s measure makes the following changes to eliminate abuse and bring the initiative process back to its more pure beginnings.

• Requires visual identification of name and a voter registration number of the petition circulators
• Prohibits payment per signature obtained
• Prohibits paying a person to sign a petition
• Eliminates the 30-day extension for those sponsors who are unsuccessful in obtaining the required number of verified signatures within the time frame allowed by law

"This is a consumer protection bill. It requires that the solicitor provide more detailed disclosure about his/her background and what organizations are backing the petition," said Sharp.

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= Bert Sharp, 112 K