As used in this section, “petition” means any petition prescribed, by statute or city charter, as a necessary prerequisite to the institution of proceedings by the city, and includes, but is not limited to, initiative petitions, referendum petitions, recall petitions, petitions pertaining to the annexation of territory to a city, the consolidation of cities, or the dissolution of a city, and petitions to institute proceedings under an improvement act.
Every person is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both a fine and imprisonment, who, circulating, as principal or agent, or having charge or control of the circulation of, or obtaining signatures to, any petition, willfully misrepresents or willfully makes any false statement concerning the contents, purport, or effect of the petition to any person who signs, or who desires to sign, or who is requested to sign, or who makes inquiries with reference to it, or to whom it is presented for a signature.
Every person is punishable by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both a fine and imprisonment, who circulates or causes to be circulated any petition knowing it to contain false, forged, or fictitious names.
(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 467, Sec. 16. (SB 1498) Effective January 1, 2019.)