(a) Prior to soliciting signatures on an initiative petition, a circulator shall execute and submit to the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathering a signed statement that reads as follows:

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___

(b) The certification required by subdivision (a) shall be kept on file by the person, company official, or other organizational officer who is in charge of signature gathering for the proposed initiative measure for not less than eight months after the certification of the results of the election for which the measure qualified, or if the measure, for any reason, is not submitted to the voters, eight months after the deadline for submission of the petition to the elections official.

(c) This section shall not apply to unpaid circulators of state or local initiative petitions.

(d) Failure to comply with this section shall not invalidate any signatures on a state or local initiative petition.

(Added by Stats. 2005, Ch. 726, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2006.)