Arnold Is Breaking the Law
This report is brought to you With help from Zack kaldveer. Zack is a member of the 'Anti Arnold Media Task Force, and can be reached at kaldveer- at - yahoo.com
Last week I mentioned the story of Erica, who encountered an angry mob of people who she encountered as she was standing outside of a Target wearing a sign that read, "I'm a teacher against Arnold's special election. Ask me why."
However this is just the beginning of the unwrapping of this story. There is much more below the surface. What if those signature gatherers hired by Arnold were hired illegally? What if Target stores had, as part of their store policy, a policy of not allowing ANY signature gatherers outside of their store? What if we found out that Target, was a major contributer to the Arnold Campaign, and that Target had made an exception to their own anti-petition gathering policy to allow only Arnold's people to petition outside their doors. Time to do a little digging......
Got your shovel?
First, check out the actual California laws on signature gatherers. Its ILLEGAL TO HIRE OUT OF STATE PETITIONERS! Even more astounding is the fact that Target, the store where the incident occurred just gave a huge donation to Arnold's campaign, is a big back of his, and in their OWN RULEBOOK it says signature gatherers ARE NOT allowed.
Here is the Law in question:
Declaration of Circulator
Each section shall have attached thereto a declaration signed and dated by the circulator of the petition setting forth, in the circulator's own hand, the following (§§ 104, 9022):
* The printed name of the circulator.
* The residence address of the circulator, giving street and number, or if no street or number exists, adequate designation of residence so that the location may be readily ascertained.
* A statement that the circulator is a voter or is qualified to register to vote in the State of California.
* The dates between which all the signatures affixed to the petition were obtained.
Each declaration submitted pursuant to this section shall also set forth the following (§§ 104, 9022):
* That the circulator circulated the petition section and witnessed the appended signatures being written.
* That according to the best information and belief of the circulator, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.
* That the declaration is true and correct under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California.
Petition Circulators
The proponent(s) of an initiative measure are required to ensure that any person, company, or other organization who solicits signatures to qualify the proposed initiative measure, whether they are paid or volunteer, receives instruction on the requirements and prohibitions imposed by state law with respect to the circulation of petitions and the gathering of signatures. Such instructions must emphasize the prohibition of the use of signatures on an initiative petition for a purpose other than qualification of the proposed measure for the ballot. (§ 9607) The petition may be circulated by a number of individuals carrying separate, identical parts of the petition called sections. Each petition circulator who obtains signatures must complete the attached declaration to the petition. Preprinted dates or generalized dates, other than the particular range of dates during which the petition section was actually circulated, are not allowed (Assembly v. Deukmejian (1982) 30 Cal.3d 638, 180 Cal.Rptr. 297). The declaration must be signed under penalty of perjury. It need not be sworn before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths, but must include the circulator's signature, date, and place of signing (Code Civ. Proc. § 2015.5). Prior to allowing a person to circulate an initiative petition for signatures, the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathering shall execute and submit to the proponent(s) a signed statement that reads as follows (§ 9609):
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__
So we have established that Arnold has hired petition gatherers in an illegal fashion. We know Target made an exception to its own rule to allow Petitioners working with Arnold to do so on Target's store property.
Let us dig deeper still.
Target Donates $100,000 to Support Schwarzenegger's Initiatives
As Lisa Vorderbrueggen reports in the Contra Costa Times, signature gatherers for Citizens to Save California got in a dust-up with an opposing group as they canvassed for signatures at Target.
Target? Didn't they bar the Salvation Army from collecting money for charity in the parking lots and grounds outside Target stores? Yep.
Target Bans Salvation Army Ringers
Donation collectors for the Salvation Army have been a familiar sight and sound for years outside retail outlets during the holiday season. The bell ringers, though, will be absent from some major North Texas stores this year.
Target stores have informed Salvation Army officials they no longer can set up the donation sites outside Target stores. Officials with the retail giant said they had to cancel the Salvation Army's exempt status to the retailer's no-solicitation policy.
In fact, Target's company policy says the following :
"Target Corporation restricts the use of its parking lots and facilities to only business use. Target does not permit individuals (including political candidates and/or their campaign organizations) or nonprofit organizations to solicit donations, distribute literature, sell merchandise or hold events on our premises."
Huh. That's weird. Why would Target go against its own company policy to allow Citizens to Save California to collect signatures in support of the Governor's agenda?
Maybe for the same reason that Target Corporation gave $100,000 to Citizens to Save California two weeks ago .
Maybe Target didn't know CSC was going to be out there collecting signatures. I doubt CSC's signature-gatherers are ringing bells after all.
Regardless, it sure strikes me as strange that a store would kick a charitable organization off its grounds but not a big-business backed ballot committee with close ties to the Governor.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For more information:
http://www.therestofus.org ARNOLD, PLEASE PLAY BY THE RULES!
On February 7, 2005, TheRestofUs.org filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that asked them to investigate Arnold Schwarzenegger's illegal fundraising for his so-called Citizens to Save California ballot committee. Please add your name to the following petition that asks Arnold to abide by the laws of California.
http://www.ContestTheVote.org/ is also quite anxious to get publicity for our petition drive: the same petition Erica was getting signed when she was assaulted by Arnold's thugs.
http://www.ContestTheVote.org/ Report Arnold Hotline
If you know of a signature gathering effort by Schwarzeneggers' backers, please report it at the following number or email address. Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley will do our best to try to get local folks out there to counter these despicable efforts to destroy the Californian community.
http://www.dfasv.org/node/view/1365Report Arnold's Signature Gatherers
Call: 1-206-666lead
reportarnold@dfasv.org
- Jordan & Zack