September 13, 2020 - SACRAMENTO, CA – Secretary of State Alex Padilla has announced the proponents of a new referendum were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures.

The Attorney General prepares the circulating title and summary that is required to appear on referendum petitions. Once completed, the Attorney General forwards the title and summary to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the referendum may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

REFERENDUM CHALLENGING A 2020 LAW PROHIBITING RETAIL SALE OF CERTAIN FLAVORED TOBACCO PRODUCTS. If the required number of registered voters sign this petition and the petition is timely filed, there will be a referendum challenging a 2020 law on the next statewide ballot after the November 3, 2020 general election. The challenged law prohibits the retail sale of certain flavored tobacco products and tobacco flavor enhancers. The referendum would require a majority of voters to approve the 2020 state law before it can take effect. (20-0003.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1892 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 20-0003.

The proponents of the measure, Aaron Agenbroad, Jaime Rojas, and Beilal Mohamad-Ali Chatila must collect signatures of 623,212 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2018 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 90 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than November 30, 2020*. The proponent can be reached c/o Kurt Oneto of Nielsen Merksamer LLP at (916) 446-6752. The address for Nielsen Marksamer LLP is 1415 L St., Ste. 1200, Sacramento, CA 95814.

*Date adjusted for official deadline, which falls on a holiday (Elec. Code § 15)
Source: CA. SOS