19-123. Publicity pamphlet; printing; distribution; public hearings

A. When the secretary of state is ordered by the legislature, or by petition under the initiative and referendum provisions of the constitution, to submit to the people a measure or proposed amendment to the constitution, the secretary of state shall cause to be printed, at the expense of the state, except as otherwise provided in this article, a publicity pamphlet, which shall contain:

1. A true copy of the title and text of the measure or proposed amendment. Such text shall indicate material deleted, if any, by printing such material with a line drawn through the center of the letters of such material and shall indicate material added or new material by printing the letters of such material in capital letters.

2. The form in which the measure or proposed amendment will appear on the ballot, the official title, the descriptive title prepared by the secretary of state and the number by which it will be designated.

3. The arguments for and against the measure or amendment.

4. For any measure or proposed amendment, a legislative council analysis of the ballot proposal as prescribed by section 19-124.

5. The report of the commission on judicial performance review for any justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals and judges of the superior court who are subject to retention.

6. The summary of a fiscal impact statement prepared by the joint legislative budget committee staff pursuant to subsection E of this section.

B. The secretary of state shall post the publicity pamphlet on the secretary of state's website as soon as is practicable after the pamphlet is printed and shall mail one copy of the publicity pamphlet to every household that contains a registered voter or, at the option of the voter, may make that delivery by e-mail. The mailings may be made over a period of days but shall be mailed in order to be delivered to households before the earliest date for receipt by registered voters of any requested early ballots for the general election.

C. The secretary of state, on request by a voter, shall provide for the publicity pamphlet to be delivered to the voter by e-mail. The motor vehicle division of the department of transportation shall provide for persons to choose e-mail delivery by way of the secure internet portal operated by the department pursuant to section 16-112. The secretary of state and the motor vehicle division shall notify the voter that, unless all persons who are registered to vote at the voter's household also request e-mail delivery of the publicity pamphlet, the voter's household will receive a publicity pamphlet by regular mail. If the secretary of state receives a return e-mail that indicates the e-mail address provided by the voter is undeliverable, the secretary of state shall provide the publicity pamphlet to the voter by regular mail. Notwithstanding any other law, a voter's e-mail address may not be released for any other purpose.

D. Sample ballots for both the primary and general elections shall include a statement that information on how to obtain a publicity pamphlet for the general election ballot propositions is available by calling the secretary of state. The statement shall include a telephone number and mailing address of the secretary of state.

E. On certification of an initiative measure as qualified for the ballot, the secretary of state shall hold or cause to be held at least three public meetings on the ballot measure. Hearings shall be held in at least three different counties and shall be held before the date of the election on the measure. The hearings shall provide an opportunity for proponents, opponents and the general public to provide testimony and request information. Hearings may be scheduled to include more than one qualified ballot measure and shall include a fiscal impact presentation on the measure by the joint legislative budget committee staff. The joint legislative budget committee staff shall prepare a summary of the fiscal impact for each ballot measure, not to exceed three hundred words, for publication in the publicity pamphlet.