Like a bum begging for change on the street, Bakersfield College students are the constant targets of another type of vagrant right here on campus. Paid petition circulators can often be found in the connecting corridor between the free speech area and the Campus Center bantering at students about a political cause of one type or another.
In similar fashion to a “change spanger,” these would-be advocates raise their daily bread, dollar by dollar, with the signatures of registered voters. Paid to solicit students into joining vaguely described causes, these petition pushers are nothing new in the political process but have become an ever-menacing part of traversing through parts of the campus.
Amazingly, it seems that every day we can walk by these tables and be asked, once again, if we would like to sign a petition. One worker even made the broad claim of, “Save California’s state parks, sign this petition.” We question whether some of these petitions are being properly described with short one-liners such as this. Most students do not have the time or attention required to read through sometimes-lengthy ballot proposals.
Much like vendors selling jewelry and other wares, all petition circulators, paid or not, must be given permission by the Student Services office to be on campus and must conduct their business with some regulation.
According to Patti Rapp, executive assistant of the dean of students office, every circulator must check in with Carla Reyes, department assistant of student activities. Rapp said, essentially, any other type of organization, such as the U.S. Armed Forces recruitment officers, must also check in.
The circulators are also required to stand behind the table area they are using and cannot approach students in any other fashion except for asking students to come to the table.
Ultimate discretion for allowing a particular petition to be presented to students falls into the hands of Dean of Students Joyce Coleman. While we do appreciate this regulation, policy concerning what constitutes an appropriate petition for student review was unavailable in document format from the Student Services office.
Regulation for petitions vary greatly among the states, but California has laws in place that do affect our frequent visitors to campus. The State of California Elec. Code 101 actually includes quoted text that must be printed in 12 point type on every petition made available and located before the signature area.
The text is quoted as: “NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC. THIS PETITION MAY BE CIRCULATED BY A PAID SIGNATURE GATHERER OR A VOLUNTEER. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a non-profit organization, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional for states to ban paid petition circulators. Despite this, seven states have adopted regulations such as the one in California that requires circulators to disclose if they are paid or simply volunteering.
The NCSL Web site also states that six states have banned the payment of circulators under a per-signature rate but rather must have an hourly salary. These states have had mixed results in federal courts with such laws. California does not ban the payment of circulators for each signature collected.
It is the belief of this editorial board that petitions are a right of the people and students have the right to sign them on campus. It is not, however, politically just or conducive to the learning environment of our campus to allow these political hawkers a space to conduct their business. We advocate the simple ban of paid petition circulators on the Bakersfield College campus.