SECTION 1.  The last paragraph of section 7 of chapter 53 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:-  The regulations shall provide procedures for a person whose name appears as a signer of a nomination paper or petition, and who asserts that the signature was forged or obtained by fraud or otherwise in violation of law, to withdraw that signature at any time on or before the last day for filing objections under chapter 55B.

SECTION 2.  Section 22A of said chapter 53, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

The state secretary shall prominently print in several locations on both sides of the blank forms for each initiative and referendum petition a distinctive letter, or other distinctive identifier, different from that on the blank forms for other petitions likely to be in circulation at the same time.  The state secretary shall print the blank forms for each initiative and referendum petition on paper of a color distinctively different from that of the blank forms for other petitions likely to be in circulation at the same time.  The state secretary may adopt regulations governing the permissible color of exact copies of these blank forms.

SECTION 3.  Said chapter 53 is hereby further amended by inserting after said section 22A, as so appearing, the following section:-

Section 22C.  (a) No person shall, by falsely describing or failing to describe the general subject matter of a state initiative or referendum petition, induce any other person in his presence to believe that a petition then being presented for signature is a different petition, and thereby to sign the petition being presented at a time when the different petition is in circulation.  

(b) No person, including a political committee or other organization and any contractor or subcontractor thereof, shall pay or agree to pay money or any other thing of value, and no person shall receive or agree to receive such payment, to circulate a state initiative or referendum petition to obtain voters’ signatures, unless the person who has paid or agreed to pay to circulate the petitions, including a contractor or subcontractor, before any circulation by a person who has received or agreed to receive such payments, files with the state secretary on a form provided by the state secretary a statement signed under the penalties of perjury showing:

(1) the name and residential address of the person who has made or agreed to make such payments;

(2) the terms of payment, including the rate of pay;

(3) the identity of the initiative or referendum petition or petitions for which such payments will be made.

As used in this subsection, “any other thing of value” shall not include ceremonial recognition or other non-monetary incentives if the aggregate total value is not more than $50 to a circulator in a calendar year.

(c) Signatures obtained in violation of subsection (a), or without compliance with subsection (b), shall be invalid. A person who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or by both such fine and such imprisonment, for each such violation.

SECTION 4. Section 5B of chapter 55 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “employer.”, in line 8, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- employer; and

(iii) clearly indicates that the committee has been organized to support or oppose a specific state initiative or referendum question, if that is true.

SECTION 5. Section 18 of said chapter 55, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “month”, in line 81, the following words:- until 45 days before the election, and thereafter (3A) on Friday of each week, complete as of the preceding Thursday.

SECTION 6.  Said chapter 55 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 18C, as so appearing, the following section:-

Section 18D. The director shall publish on the Internet, and shall update at reasonable intervals on the Internet, at an Internet address that the state secretary shall publish in the information materials sent to voters under section 53 of chapter 54:

(a) the most recent list of the 10 contributors contributing the largest total amounts to committees organized for the purpose of supporting and to committees organized for the purpose of defeating a state initiative or referendum question, and all contributors to each committee organized for these purposes contributing more than $5,000 in any one election cycle;

(b) the most recent contribution amount for each listed contributor;

(c) the address, employer, and occupation of each listed contributor;

(d) the most recent total of expenditures for each committee organized for the purpose of supporting or defeating a state initiative or referendum question;

(e) a graph or chart depicting the percentage of all contributions made to all committees organized for the purpose of supporting and all committees organized for the purpose of defeating a state initiative or referendum question.  This graph or chart shall depict contributions in amounts less than $50, $50 or more but less than $200, $200 or more but less than $1,000, $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, and more than $10,000;

(f) the office address, telephone number, and Internet website address of the director’s office, where the public may obtain additional information; and

(g) a statement informing voters that they can obtain more information regarding the financial information for state initiative or referendum question committees at the office’s physical location or Internet website.

SECTION 7.  Section 5 of chapter 55B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words “thirtieth day succeeding the last day for filing such initiative”, in lines 18 and 19, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- forty-fifth day after the last day for filing the initiative or referendum.

SECTION 8.  Section 10 of said chapter 55B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “twenty-first”, in line 17, and inserting in place thereof the following word:- thirtieth. 

SECTION 9.  Chapter 56 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 11, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 11. Whoever falsely makes or wilfully alters, defaces, mutilates, destroys or suppresses a certificate of nomination or nomination paper, or letter of withdrawal of a name from such paper, or an initiative or referendum petition or other petition for the submission of a question to the voters, or unlawfully signs or causes to be signed unlawfully any such certificate, paper, letter or petition, or files or gives to another person for the purpose of filing any such certificate, paper, letter or petition, knowing the same to be falsely made or altered or unlawfully signed or unlawfully caused to be signed, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or by both such fine and such imprisonment.

SECTION 10.  Said chapter 56 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 11A, as so appearing, the following section:-

Section 11B.  Whoever contacts a person who signed a nomination paper or an initiative or referendum petition or other petition for the submission of a question to the voters, for the purpose of threatening, harassing or intimidating that person, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or by both such fine and such imprisonment.

SECTION 11.  The state secretary shall propose a method for each voter to learn that the voter’s name appear as signers of a state nomination paper or state initiative or referendum petition, and to be informed of the procedure for withdrawing that signature if the voter asserts that the signature was forged or obtained by fraud or otherwise in violation of law.  The proposed method may involve the use of the Internet or other electronic means.  The state secretary shall implement the proposed method by adopting regulations under section 7 of chapter 53 of the General Laws or shall propose legislation if necessary.  The state secretary shall report in writing to the joint committee on election laws on this proposal and its implementation not later than December 31, 2006.

SECTION 12.  Sections 2, 4, 5 and 6, and subsection (b) of section 22C of chapter 53 of the General Laws, inserted by section 3, shall take effect on January 1, 2006.