Electioneering Laws

18370. No person, on election day, or at any time that a voter may be casting a ballot, shall, within 100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office:

(a) Circulate an initiative, referendum, recall, or nomination petition or any other petition.

(b) Solicit a vote or speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or her ballot.

(c) Place a sign relating to voters' qualifications or speak to a voter on the subject of his or her qualifications except as provided in Section 14240. (Challenging a voter) http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/code/code.html?sec=elec&codesection=14240-14253

(d) Do any electioneering. As used in this section, "100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office" means a distance 100 feet from the room or rooms in which voters are signing the roster and casting ballots. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

18371. (a) No candidate or representative of a candidate, and no proponent, opponent, or representative of a proponent or opponent, of an initiative, referendum, or recall measure, or of a charter amendment, shall solicit the vote of an absentee voter, or do any electioneering, while in the residence or in the immediate presence of the voter, and during the time he or she knows the absentee voter is voting.

(b) Any person who knowingly violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) This section shall not be construed to conflict with any provision of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, nor to preclude electioneering by mail or telephone or in public places, except as prohibited by Section 18370, or by any other provision of law.

See http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/code/code.html?sec=elec&codesection=18370-18371

-- Raymond Lutz - 05 Oct 2006