Section 115.1 Of Chapter 4. Forging, Stealing, Mutilating, And Falsifying Judicial And Public Records And Documents From California Penal Code >> Title 7. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 4.
115.1
. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the voters of
California are entitled to accurate representations in materials that
are directed to them in efforts to influence how they vote.
(b) No person shall publish or cause to be published, with intent
to deceive, any campaign advertisement containing a signature that
the person knows to be unauthorized.
(c) For purposes of this section, "campaign advertisement" means
any communication directed to voters by means of a mass mailing as
defined in Section 82041.5 of the Government Code, a paid television,
radio, or newspaper advertisement, an outdoor advertisement, or any
other printed matter, if the expenditures for that communication are
required to be reported by Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 84100)
of Title 9 of the Government Code.
(d) For purposes of this section, an authorization to use a
signature shall be oral or written.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a
person from publishing or causing to be published a reproduction of
all or part of a document containing an actual or authorized
signature, provided that the signature so reproduced shall not, with
the intent to deceive, be incorporated into another document in a
manner that falsely suggests that the person whose signature is
reproduced has signed the other document.
(f) Any knowing or willful violation of this section is a public
offense punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6
months, or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by a fine
not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
(g) As used in this section, "signature" means either of the
following:
(1) A handwritten or mechanical signature, or a copy thereof.
(2) Any representation of a person's name, including, but not
limited to, a printed or typewritten representation, that serves the
same purpose as a handwritten or mechanical signature.