Chapter 24 - Initiative And Referendum
CHAPTER 24 - INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
ARTICLE 1 - IN GENERAL
22-24-101. Right of initiative; limitations.
Thepeople may propose and enact laws by the initiative. However, the initiativeshall not be used to dedicate revenues, make or repeal appropriations, createcourts, define the jurisdiction of courts or prescribe their rules, enact localor special legislation, enact that prohibited by the constitution for enactmentby the legislature, or enact that substantially the same as that defeated by aninitiative election within five (5) years preceding the time of filing of thepetition.
22-24-102. Right of referendum; limitations.
Thepeople may approve or reject acts of the legislature by the referendum.However, the referendum shall not be applied to dedications of revenue, toappropriations, to local or special legislation, or to laws necessary for theimmediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.
22-24-103. Application; filing and fee.
Aninitiative or a referendum shall be proposed by filing an application with thesecretary of state. A fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00) shall accompany theapplication. This fee shall be deposited in the general fund.
22-24-104. Application; contents.
(a) The application shall include:
(i) The proposed bill to be initiated or theact to be referred;
(ii) Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 100, 5.
(iii) The designation of a committee of three(3) sponsors who shall represent all sponsors and subscribers in mattersrelating to the initiative or to the referendum;
(iv) In a referendum, the signatures and addresses of not lessthan one hundred (100) qualified registered voters; and
(v) Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 100, 5.
(vi) A statement that the committee of sponsors are qualifiedregistered voters who signed the application with the proposed bill or theproposed act attached.
22-24-105. Requirements as to proposed bill.
(a) In an initiative, the proposed billshall be confined to one (1) subject, the entire subject of the bill shall beexpressed in the title, the enacting clause shall be: "Be it enacted bythe people of the state of Wyoming:" and the bill shall not includesubjects restricted by W.S. 22-24-101.
(b) In an initiative, concurrently with thefiling of the application, the proposed bill shall be submitted by thecommittee of sponsors to the secretary of state for review and comment. Uponrequest of the secretary of state, the legislative service office or any agencyin the executive department shall render assistance in reviewing and preparingcomments on the proposed bill. No later than fourteen (14) calendar days afterthe date of submission, at a conference scheduled by the secretary of state,the secretary shall render to the committee of sponsors comments on anyproblems encountered concerning the format or contents of the proposed bill. The comments shall not be disclosed prior to the conference with the committeeof sponsors but, at such time as the application is certified, the commentsshall become a public record. After the conference but before the certificationthe sponsors may amend the proposed bill in response to some or all of thecomments of the secretary of state and resubmit the proposed bill in accordancewith this subsection, or they may disregard the comments entirely. Thecommittee of sponsors shall notify the secretary of state within five (5)calendar days after the conference whether the proposed bill will be amended. If the proposed bill is to be amended it shall be resubmitted for review andcomment in accordance with this subsection. If the proposed bill will not beamended it shall be submitted by the committee of sponsors together with thecomments to the secretary of state.
(c) If in the opinion of the secretary of state the proposedbill will have a fiscal impact on the state, the comments prepared pursuant tosubsection (b) of this section shall contain an estimate and explanation of thefiscal impact. The explanation shall include a statement that it is anestimate of fiscal impact to the state only and does not include an estimate ofany impact upon political subdivisions. The estimate and explanation shall bedisclosed to the committee of sponsors at the conference held pursuant tosubsection (b) of this section and may be revised if in the opinion of thesecretary of state the committee demonstrates the estimate or explanation isinaccurate. If the final estimated fiscal impact by the secretary of state andthe final estimated fiscal impact by the committee of sponsors differ by morethan twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00), the secretary of state'scomments under this section and the ballot proposition shall contain anestimated range of fiscal impact reflecting both estimates.
(d) The committee of sponsors shall notify the secretary ofstate within five (5) calendar days after the conference whether the proposedbill will be amended. If the proposed bill is to be amended it shall beresubmitted for review and comment in accordance with this subsection.
(e) If the proposed bill will not be amended the committee ofsponsors shall submit the names, signatures, addresses and the date of signingof one hundred (100) qualified registered voters to act as sponsors supportingthe application in its final form to the secretary of state.
22-24-106. Notice to committee.
Noticeto the committee on any matter pertaining to the application and petition shallbe served on any member of the committee in person or by mail addressed to acommittee member at the address indicated on the application.
22-24-107. Sponsors.
(a) The qualified registered voters who subscribe to theapplication are designated as sponsors. The committee may designate additionalqualified individuals to act as circulators of the petitions by giving writtennotice to the secretary of state verifying under oath the names, qualificationsand addresses of those so designated. An individual shall not be qualified toact as a circulator unless he is a citizen of the United States, a bona fideresident of Wyoming and is at least eighteen (18) years of age. For purposesof this section "resident" means a person who has maintained aresidence in Wyoming, as defined by W.S. 22-1-102, for a period of at leastninety (90) days prior to circulating a petition.
(b) The committee of sponsors shall file receipt andexpenditure reports as required by W.S. 22-25-106.
22-24-108. Review by secretary of state.
Withinseven (7) calendar days after receiving the proposed bill, and the commentsreceived under W.S. 22-24-105 and estimated state fiscal impact, the secretaryof state shall review the application and shall either certify it or notify thecommittee in writing of the grounds for denial.
22-24-109. Grounds for denying certification of initiative or referendumapplication.
(a) The secretary of state shall denycertification of an initiative application if he determines that:
(i) The proposed bill to be initiated is notin the required form;
(ii) The application is not in the required form;
(iii) There is an insufficient number of qualified registeredvoters as sponsors; or
(iv) The proposed bill was not submitted for review and commentin accordance with W.S. 22-24-105.
(b) The secretary of state shall denycertification of a referendum application if he determines that:
(i) There is an insufficient number of qualified registeredvoters as sponsors;
(ii) The application is not substantially inthe required form; or
(iii) More than ninety (90) days have expired since theadjournment of the legislative session at which the act being referred waspassed.
22-24-110. Petitions; generally.
(a) If the application is certified, thesecretary of state shall prescribe the form of and prepare petitionscontaining:
(i) A copy of the proposed bill or of theact to be referred;
(ii) An impartial summary of the subjectmatter of the bill;
(iii) The warning required by W.S. 22-24-111;
(iv) Sufficient space for signatures andaddresses;
(v) If the circulator is being paid to solicit signatures, eachsignature page circulated by that circulator shall contain, in sixteen (16)point or larger red boldface type, the following statement: "Thiscirculator is being paid to solicit signatures for this ballotproposition." The statement shall be prominently displayed and madevisible to the petition signer by the circulator; and
(vi) Other specifications necessary to assureproper handling and control.
(b) Petitions, for purposes of circulation, shall be preparedby the secretary of state at the sponsor's expense in a number reasonablycalculated to allow full circulation throughout the state. A paid circulatorshall solicit signatures on a petition only if each signature page circulatedby that circulator contains the statement required under paragraph (a)(v) ofthis section.
(c) The secretary of state shall number eachpetition and shall keep a record of the petition delivered to each sponsor.
(d) Upon request of the committee, thesecretary of state shall report the number of persons who voted in thepreceding general election.
(e) The secretary of state, on any printed material circulatedby the secretary of state describing the proposition, shall include noticewhether any paid circulator was used to gather signatures as required by paragraph(a)(v) of this section.
22-24-111. Petitions; statement of warning.
Eachpetition shall include a statement of warning that a person who signs a nameother than his own on the petition, or who knowingly signs his name more thanonce for the same proposition at one (1) election, or who signs the petitionknowing that he is not a qualified registered voter, upon conviction, ispunishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or byimprisonment for not more than one (1) year or both.
22-24-112. Petitions; circulation; contests.
(a) The petitions shall be circulated throughout the state onlyby a sponsor or an individual designated in accordance with W.S. 22-24-107 as acirculator and only in person.
(b) Any person may contest the qualifications of an individualdesignated as a circulator by filing a petition in the circuit court within thecounty where the circulator was soliciting signatures or in the district courtwithin ten (10) days of the solicitation activity. The court shall hear anddecide any such action within five (5) days from the date the petition isfiled. Among the criteria the court may use in determining the qualificationsof the circulator are the following:
(i) Term and location of dwelling of the circulator and family;
(ii) Term and location of employment;
(iii) Term and location of vehicle registration;
(iv) Length of driver's license registration;
(v) Time of property ownership or lease rental;
(vi) Any other residency qualifications either provided by lawor deemed reasonable by the court to render a judicious determination.
(c) Any party prevailing in any action filed pursuant tosubsection (b) of this section may be awarded costs and reasonable attorney'sfees by the court. The court shall notify the secretary of state of itsfindings as to the qualifications of a circulator within five (5) days of thedetermination.
22-24-113. Petitions; subscribing to and withdrawing name.
Anyqualified registered voter may subscribe to the petition by signing his nameand listing his address. A person who has signed the petition may withdraw hisname only by giving written notice to the secretary of state before the timethat the petition is filed.
22-24-114. Petitions; verification.
(a) Before a petition is filed, it shall be verified by thesponsor or other individual who personally circulated it. The verificationshall be in affidavit form and shall state in substance that:
(i) The person signing the affidavit is a sponsor or anindividual designated and qualified in accordance with W.S. 22-24-107 and isthe only circulator of that petition;
(ii) The signatures on the petition were madein his presence; and
(iii) To the best of his knowledge, such signatures are those ofthe persons whose names they purport to be. In determining the sufficiency ofthe petition, the secretary of state shall not:
(A) Count signatures on petitions not properly verified;
(B) Count signatures on a petition circulated by an individualwho has been determined not to be a qualified circulator pursuant to W.S.22-24-112 or by the secretary of state in accordance with rules of his office.
22-24-115. Petitions; filing by sponsors.
(a) Petitions may be filed with thesecretary of state if signed by a sufficient number of qualified registeredvoters as required by the Wyoming constitution. The sponsor of a petition forreferendum may file the petition only within ninety (90) days after theadjournment of the legislative session at which the act was passed.
(b) Petitions for an initiative shall besubmitted to the secretary of state for verification within the eighteen (18)month period following the date the first set of petition forms are provided tothe sponsors. Any petition not submitted within the eighteen (18) month periodis void for all purposes.
(c) The eighteen (18) month period set forthin subsection (b) of this section shall commence on the effective date of thisact as to all petitions for an initiative that are outstanding on the effectivedate.
22-24-116. Petitions; review by secretary of state.
(a) Within not more than sixty (60) days ofthe date the petition is filed, the secretary of state shall review it andshall notify the committee whether the petition was properly or improperlyfiled. The petition shall be determined to be improperly filed if:
(i) There is an insufficient total number of signatures ofqualified registered voters;
(ii) There is an insufficient number of signatures of qualifiedregistered voters in at least two-thirds (2/3) of the counties of the state; or
(iii) The petition is for referendum and was not filed withinninety (90) days after the adjournment of the legislative session at which theact was passed.
22-24-117. Ballot proposition; preparation and contents.
(a) If the petition is properly filed, the secretary of state,with the assistance of the attorney general, shall prepare a ballotproposition. The ballot proposition shall give a true and impartial summary ofthe proposed law or of the referred act, including the estimated fiscal impactor range of estimated fiscal impact on the state and explanation of the impactprepared in accordance with W.S. 22-24-105(c), and shall make provision forapproval and for disapproval thereof.
(b) When any proposal relating to the investment of thepermanent funds of the state of Wyoming is placed on the ballot, the secretaryof state shall include in the ballot statement an estimate from the statetreasurer of the estimated loss or gain in revenue from the proposal. If thefinal estimated loss or gain by the state treasurer and the final estimatedloss or gain by the committee of sponsors of the ballot proposition differ bymore than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00), the ballot statement shallcontain the range of estimated loss or gain reflecting both estimates.
22-24-118. Ballot proposition; procedure for placing on ballot;publication requirements.
(a) Except as required under subsection (b)of this section, the same procedure for placing constitutional amendmentquestions on the ballot shall be used to place the initiative or referendumballot proposition on the ballot.
(b) The ballot proposition for an initiativeor referendum shall be published by the secretary of state in a newspaper ofgeneral circulation in the state in the newspaper edition immediately precedingthe general election. Publication under this subsection shall contain theentire text of the initiative or referendum.
22-24-119. Ballot proposition; when placed on ballot.
(a) The ballot proposition for an initiativeshall be placed on the election ballot of the first statewide general electionthat is held after:
(i) The petition is filed;
(ii) A legislative session has convened andadjourned; and
(iii) A period of one hundred twenty (120)days has expired since the adjournment of the legislative session. If theattorney general determines that an act of the legislature enacted after thepetition is filed is substantially the same as the proposed law, the petitionshall be void and the ballot proposition shall not be placed on the electionballot, and the secretary of the state shall so notify the committee.
(b) The ballot proposition for a referendumshall be placed on the election ballot of the first statewide general electionheld more than one hundred eighty (180) days after adjournment of thelegislative session at which the act was passed.
22-24-120. Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 100, 5.
22-24-121. Insufficiency of application or petition.
Aninitiative or a referendum submitted to the voters shall not be void because ofthe insufficiency of the application or petition by which the submission wasprocured.
22-24-122. Action for review of determination.
Anyperson aggrieved by any determination made under this article, by the secretaryof state or by the attorney general, may bring an action in the district courtof Laramie county to have the determination reviewed by filing applicationwithin thirty (30) days of the date on which notice of the determination wasgiven.
22-24-123. Penalties.
(a) Any person who signs a name other than his own on apetition for initiative or on a petition for referendum, or who knowingly signshis name more than once for the same proposition at one (1) election, or whosigns such petition knowing that he is not a qualified registered voter, uponconviction shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) orimprisoned for not more than one (1) year, or both.
(b) Any sponsor or circulator who knowingly and willfully makesa false verification of the qualifications of a circulator pursuant to W.S.22-24-107(a) or knowingly and willfully makes a false verification under W.S.22-24-114, shall be guilty of false swearing and subject to the penalties providedby W.S. 22-26-101.
22-24-124. Repealed By Laws 1998, ch. 100, 5.
22-24-125. Petitions; payment for signatures; misrepresentation ofpetition; prohibition; penalty.
(a) A circulator of an initiative or areferendum petition or a person who causes the circulation of an initiative ora referendum petition may not receive payment for the collection of signaturesif that payment is based upon the number of signatures collected. Nothing inthis section prohibits a circulator of an initiative or a referendum petitionor a person who causes the circulation of an initiative or a referendumpetition from being paid a salary that is not based upon the number ofsignatures collected.
(b) A circulator of an initiative or areferendum petition or a person who causes the circulation of an initiative ora referendum petition may not pay or offer to pay any compensation to anotherperson for that person's signature on the initiative or referendum petition.
(c) A circulator of an initiative or a referendum petition or aperson who causes the circulation of an initiative or a referendum petitionshall not collect another person's signature on the petition by knowinglymaking a false statement with respect to or otherwise misrepresenting theproposed law or referred act contained within the initiative or referendumpetition. A violation of this subsection is subject to the penalty imposedunder W.S. 22-24-123(a).
ARTICLE 2 - PAID ADVERTISING IN ANY COMMUNICATION MEDIUM ORPRINTED LITERATURE TO SUPPORT, OPPOSE OR INFLUENCE LEGISLATION
22-24-201. Paid advertising; penalty.
(a) Any group of persons who are associatedfor the purpose of raising, collecting or spending money for paid advertisingin any communication media or for printed literature to support, oppose orotherwise influence legislation by the legislature of the state of Wyoming,which is or was the subject of a statewide initiative or referendum within thepast four (4) years, shall:
(i) File a statement of formation listingthe names and addresses of its chairman and treasurer with the secretary ofstate within ten (10) days after formation and prior to the publication,dissemination or broadcast of any paid advertising from the group;
(ii) File with the secretary of state a statement of receiptsand expenditures setting forth the full and complete record of receiptsincluding cash, goods or services and actual and promised expenditures, on aform prescribed by the secretary of state, on the last Friday in December ofeach calendar year. In addition to the annual report, while the legislature isin session, there shall be filed an interim monthly statement for each month orportion thereof that the legislature is in session, within ten (10) days of thefirst day of the month for the previous month;
(iii) If the total receipts and expendituresreported under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section lists any contribution inexcess of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) from any source or sources otherthan an individual, the report shall include a full and complete disclosure ofthe funding source or sources of any nonindividual contributor which funded theadvertising.
(b) Any group formed under this sectionshall file a termination report within thirty (30) days after it ceases theregulated activity but cessation of activity shall not relieve the group of thereporting requirement for that filing period.
(c) No group subject to this section shallpay for advertising in any communication media or printed literature withoutfull disclosure of the name of the group.
(d) Nothing in this section shall require anindividual or individuals who pay for advertising or literature to support,oppose or otherwise influence legislation to file under this section, providedthe name of the individual or individuals is fully disclosed in the advertisingor literature.
(e) As used in this section:
(i) "Communication media" means advertising ontelevision, radio, in print media, on billboards and other electronic media;
(ii) "Printed literature" means anyprinted material but shall not include any member association printedcommunication not intended for public dissemination, bumper stickers, pens,pencils, buttons, rulers, nail files, balloons and yard signs.
(f) Any person who willfully and knowingly violatesany of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable asprovided by W.S. 22-26-112.