Schwarzenegger is breaking the law

[benddem]

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/1365
Report Arnold's Signature Gatherers
Call: 1-206-666lead
[e-mail]

- Jordan & Zack

[sui generis]

1. oh man, I thought you were going to get him for showing his breasts

or something.

[Trillo]

2. Nah--it's much more IMPORTANT to go after bloggers

to demand campaign-contribution accounting of out-pointing hyperlinks.

(wish this thought was sarcasm)

[Garbo 2004]

3. Christine Craft interviewed someone from the Secty of State's Office

about the legality of using out of state people to gather signatures. According to the person from the Secty of State, the section of the law that states that "the circulator is a voter or is qualified to register to vote in the State of California" is the section where there is a legal loophole. Apparently the Secty of State's Office contends that the law doesn't specifically require that the circulator is an actual current established resident of CA (although that certainly appears to be the intent of the law) just that the person "is qualified to register" to vote in CA, even if they just swooped into CA to collect signatures. Based on that reading of the law apparently the Secty of State's office won't do anything if such things are reported to them.

Interesting legal parsing from the Secty of State's Office, FWIW.

And of course a court recently ruled against the FPPC on fundraising donation caps: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/03/25/state/n144635S38.DTL&type=printable http://www.fppc.ca.gov/index.html?id=458 The FPPC should appeal but will they?

[Ernesto]

5. Good for her Christine!

She's doing a whale of a job for Sacramento!

[Liberty Belle]

6. McPherson's the SOS for what, 5 minutes? & already ignoring the law

[Garbo 2004]

8. Craft interviewed the rep from the Sect of State's Office weeks ago.

Before McPherson took office. The person explained their legal counsel's opinion regarding the law.

[yurbud]

4. great work--send this to LA Times

[Kerrytravelers]

7. I went to a Terget after the election (before checking buytheblue.org)

and there was a guy taking sigs for the teen abortion notification issue. I asked him where he was from and he refused to tell me. I let our local Dem office know and they found out and took it from there.

Target is pitiful.

Arnie is worse.

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. You need to bring this to the attention of a prosecutor

There must be at least a few Democratic District Attorneys in California.

[roody]

10. signing Arnold's petitions

Would I be breaking the law if I wrote an incorrect name---someone not registered to vote?

[newyawker99]

12. Hi roody!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Semi_subversive]

13. You won't be breaking the law, but

your fake signature may be counted as authentic. Listening to Christine Craft, she said that the verification process is random. Each verified sig will represent several valid sigs. What you need to do is write NO WAY over whatever space is unsigned on the petition, then they won't get credit for it. If they tell you that's illegal, it's BS. Just don't deface any of the sigs that are there because you can get in trouble for that. I filled up an entire blank page and the gatherer got pissy with me and said it was a felony. I told them he was full of shit and to go ahead and call a cop. I was hoping he would put his hands on me so I could have him arrested for assault or I could have defended myself. That would have been more fun!

[cascadiance]

11. Here's a copy of an email I just received here in North County San Diego!

Just had dinner with someone else tonight who also was seeing people getting kicked off store property when they were "countering" the "guest" petition signers. We've got to crank up efforts to stop this crap!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Date: Sun Apr 3, 2005 7:58:00 PM US/Pacific
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Add YOUR Story to the Tales of the Counter-Leafleters! It's working!


Grassroots volunteers are responding to the calls to counter-leaflet Arnold's signature-gatherers throughout San Diego County!

Bryan, in the Carlsbad area (who also led our Don't Be Fooled Overpass Team there on Friday aftn), reports: " (I) Showed up around 5:30p to take on the Petitioner (at Von's in Carlsbad). Things were friendly yet political. I hung out and stopped a good twenty people from signing up. Got a lot of support from the local union down there too. Lots of Vons employees had a good laugh at his expense! I ended up leaving around 8:00. I believe he was the same guy at Stater Brothers. He mentioned that he hangs out around La Jolla."

From Fran, in the San Marcos area: " I handed out some fliers to people signing petitions in front of the San Marcos Wal-Mart on Nordahl. Some people said they wouldn't sign the petitions but there weren't many people even willing to stop. The guy said he had some liberal petitions I could sign. One was about electric rates that my husband read and told him he wouldn't sign because it was too ambiguous and you were not sure what you were signing. Maybe people learned from last time and are not so ready to sign petitions."

From Nell, in Lakeside, to the "Stop Arnold Hotline": "You might as well have leaflets at every shopping center and school! The petitioners are all over. My son is one of them, and he is a City College and plans to go to SDSU. He said he is also being paid $1 for every Republican he registers but $0 for Democratic voters. They are always at SDSU. I saw one at Trader Joes on Friday, and in front of the Henry's in Santee (even had a discussion with one of them about the PERS to 401K plot, but he needs his $1 a signature so he won't stop). I think we should start signing the petitions with false information every time we see a petitioner, and we should engage them in conversation. Ask them to explain each petition, etc. They still get the $1 and we take up their time. If you have the text of the leaflet, please send it out to the group list so we have the information to combat these petitioners, ourselves."

From Miriam in La Mesa (who organized our Don't Be Fooled By Arnold Rally downtown on Friday):
"I went grocery shopping today, but when I spotted an Arnold petition gatherer in front of the Vons store in La Mesa, I grabbed a stack of flyers out of my car and started passing them out to everyone approaching his table or entering the store. This guy looked more professional than some that others have described. He was an older fellow, reasonably well dressed and actually seemed to know at least some information about what was in his petitions. He became very annoyed when I stood right next to him, and he asked me to leave. I politely told him that this is a public place, and I have as much right to be there as he did. He then pulled out a camera and took my photo.

"I called the hotline in hopes someone else would show up. Meanwhile I passed out flyers and talked with people for an hour and a half, during which time only two people signed his pile of petitions. Many thanked me for telling them the truth, including several teachers. One man said "I'm a Republican, and I don't like what Arnold's doing." Several people offered to sign up as volunteers to help our cause.

"After a while, the petition guy called in a reinforcement. The new guy was pushy and obnoxious, interrupting me to call me a liar and insist that I must be paid. When that didn't work, he tried accusing me of only being interested in money. I said, "Sir, if wanting to stop an unnecessary special election that will cost $70 million makes me concerned about money, you're absolutely right. My child's 80-year-old school is falling apart. The state says there's no money for repairs. My oldest is applying for colleges, but the tuition's gone way up and there are no state scholarships available anymore. So YES OF COURSE I"M CONCERNED ABOUT SEEING $70 MILLION THROWN DOWN THE DRAIN ON AN ELECTION WE DON"T NEED!"

"That shut him up, until I finally ran out of flyers and had to leave to go pick up my daughter. Unfortunately, no one else from CFD came to replace me, so as I drove away, I saw to my dismay that these two creeps had throngs of people standing around their tables, waiting to sign. Please, all, help recruit more volunteers!"

Please, add your own story and help with this very effective, neighbor-to-neighbor outreach to tell people the truth about these harmful petitions and wasteful $pecial Election. Download your own leaflets at Saving California from Termination - Resources | CALIFORNIA FOR DEMOCRACY

Here's my offer -- whoever will volunteer to be the contact for a certain store/location in their area where they've seen signature-gatherers, I will post that location with your contact info to my (rather extensive) network of e-mail addresses, so that other people in your area can sign up with you to help cover that location. (e.g., folks can sign up for a specific day and/or a certain time slot each day, and/or you can set up a "phone tree" so that when someone needs a reliever, they can call people to see if anyone is available -- it's up to you and your group how you want to do it) THIS IS A GREAT WAY FOR A GROUP OF PROGRESSIVES TO DO SOMETHING CONCRETE AND EFFECTIVE TOGETHER (and to meet other progressives in your area).

We CAN do this, folks! Let's show $chwarzenegger and the big money folks that they can't rely on folks not reacting this time around. Here's the list of locations in North County that have been reported over the past week: pick one in YOUR community (or another place you've noticed has "Arnolds") and help lead our grassroots resistance! I'm willing to post Site Coordinators for the rest of San Diego County, too.

Carlsbad

Vons, 7710 El Camino Real


Encinitas

Henry’s (El Camino Real/Encinitas Bl.)
Stater Brothers, 1048 N El Camino Real
Target on El Camino Real/Leucadia Blvd

Escondido

Target on W. Valley Parkway, just west of the I-15

Oceanside

Trader Joes - Vista Way and Fire Mountain
Albertson's - Mission Ave. and El Camino Real

Poway

Target at Twin Peaks/Pomerado
Wal-Mart on Community, just north of Poway Rd.

San Diego (Mira Mesa)

Target Store, corner Mira Mesa Blvd and Camino Ruiz

San Marcos

Wal-Mart on Nordahl (just north of the 78)

Vista

Stater Brothers, South Santa Fe and Bobier

THANK YOU for all you do, and WILL do, in our common cause!

Martha

Martha Sullivan, Communications Chair/North San Diego DFA
Political Action Director/North County Unity

"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values--so you keep losing." Howard Dean from "You Have The Power"

Don’t BE FOOLED!
DON’T SIGN ANY INTIATIVE PETITIONS!

$chwarzenegger’S $peciaL ELECTION IS A $70 MILLION SWINDLE

∑ A special election costs taxpayers $70 million. Initiatives could be voted on for no extra cost at the next election in June 2006.

∑ $chwarzenegger’s big corporate donors are spending $50 million to force initiatives onto our ballots that hurt California’s people and public education.

∑ $chwarzenegger wants to privatize pensions for teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees—replacing a secure pension system with a very risky plan. It even eliminates survivor benefits for widows, widowers and orphans of men and women killed in the line of duty!

∑ Who benefits? Corporate robber barons--the big financial and brokerage institutions on Wall Street.

∑ $chwarzenegger is “outsourcing” verification of voters’ signatures to India—which has no privacy protection laws.

∑ Another initiative would force mid-decade gerrymander of California’s Congressional and legislative districts, using Census data that is 5 years old or more.

∑ A special election would be held on unverifiable voting machines with NO paper trails! A new law requiring paper trails for voting machines doesn’t take effect until 2006.

∑ CALL THE HOTLINE—REPORT ARNOLD’S PETITION GATHERERS: 206-350-7233
∑ SIGN A PETITION TO STOP THE SPECIAL ELECTION: www.contestthevote.org
∑ HELP STOP THE SPECIAL ELECTION! See www.californiafordemocracy.com for details.