HCS/SCS/SB 671 - This act modifies provisions relating to elections. COUNTY COLLECTORS (52.010, 54.033, & 54.330) This act establishes minimum qualifications for the offices county collector and county treasurer-collector. Except for county collectors in charter counties, a candidate for such offices must be at least 21 years of age, a resident of the state and the county in which the candidate will serve for one year prior to filing for office, and a registered voter. Candidates for county collector and county treasurer-collector must be current in the payment of state and local taxes. County collector-treasurers are given the sole authority to appoint their deputies and must remain in office until a successor is elected. Once elected, collectors and collector-treasurers must reside in the county for the duration of their terms. In addition, this act specifies that, in the event of a vacancy in the office of county collector-treasurer, the procedure for a county collector vacancy applies rather than the procedure for a county treasurer vacancy. These provisions are identical to provisions in the truly agreed to and finally passed SS/HCS/HB 1106 (2012). STATUTORY BOND REQUIREMENTS (115.342) This act requires candidates for certain public offices to file a declaration that the person is not aware of any information that would prohibit such person from fulfilling for the office's statutory bond requirements. This provision is identical to a provision in the truly agreed to and finally passed SS/HCS/HB 1106 (2012). INITIATIVE PETITIONS (116.080 to 116.332) This act modifies the law relating to initiative and referendum. A person shall not qualify as a petition circulator if he or she has been found guilty of forgery. Circulators are required to wear buttons signifying whether they are compensated or not. Currently, those who sign a false name on a petition are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Under the act, those who knowingly do so with the intent to alter the outcome, are guilty of a class one election offense. Petitions may be withdrawn upon written notice to the Secretary of State. Petitioners shall submit a copy of the filed statement of committee organization to the Secretary of State, with the sample petition. The petition sponsor shall submit, at the same time and with the sample petition, at least 1,000, but not more than 2,200 sponsoring signatures to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall send the signatures to the election authorities for verification within 5 days to be verified by the election authorities within 15 days. If the sponsoring signatures are verified, the Secretary of State shall notify the petition sponsor and accept public comment regarding the proposed measure. The Secretary has 23 days from certification of the sponsoring signatures to prepare the summary statement. Sponsoring signatures and signatures collected prior to the date the official ballot title is certified shall not be counted for the purposes of determining the number of signatures constitutionally required to have the measure placed on the ballot. The act requires the Secretary of State to post the full text of initiative and referendum petitions within two days of receiving such petition and a disclaimer stating that the text of the proposed measure may not constitute the full and correct text as required by law to qualify for circulation. The name of the individual or organization submitting the petition shall also be included. Failure to do so shall be considered an open records violation. The petition shall be removed upon rejection. Within 30 days of certification that the petition sponsor has the required signatures to have the provision placed on the ballot, the Joint Committee on Legislative Research shall hold a public hearing to take public comment on the measure. Sponsoring signatures must be submitted on pages that contain a statement that the person personally signed the petition, such person is a registered voter of the state and a particular county, and that his or her voting address is correctly provided. Each petition page may only contain signatures from voters in one county. Sponsoring signatures collected by a circulator who has not registered with the Secretary of State by 5 p.m. on the day the signatures are submitted may not be counted. The provision requiring the Joint Committee on Legislative Research to conduct a public hearing carries an emergency clause. This act contains a severability clause and contains provisions that are similar to SCS/SBs 817 & 774 (2012) and HCS/HB 1869 (2012). MEGHAN LUECKE