Section 18108.5.

(a) Any person, company, or other organization that agrees to pay money or other valuable consideration, whether on a per-affidavit basis or otherwise, to any person who assists another person to register to vote by receiving the completed affidavit of registration who fails to comply with Section 2159.5, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months or when the failure to comply is found to be willful, not exceeding one year, or both.

(b) Any person, company, or other organization that agrees to pay money or other valuable consideration, whether on a per-affidavit basis or otherwise, to any person who assists another person to register to vote by receiving the completed affidavit of registration, upon a third or subsequent conviction, on charges brought and separately tried, for failure to comply with Section 2159.5 shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or both.

(c) An elections official shall notify any person, company, or other organization that agrees to pay money or other valuable consideration, whether on a per-affidavit basis or otherwise, to any person who assists another person to register to vote by receiving the completed affidavit of registration, that three or more affidavits of registration submitted by a person who assisted another to register to vote do not comply with Sections 18100, 18101, 18103, or 18106. The elections official may forward a copy of each of the noncomplying affidavits of registration to the district attorney, who may make a determination whether probable cause exists to believe that a violation of law has occurred.

(d) This section shall not apply to any public agency or its employees that is designated as a voter registration agency pursuant to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973gg), when an elector asks for assistance to register to vote during the course and scope of the agency's normal business.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 456, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1998.)