BILL NUMBER: AB 346	CHAPTERED  08/04/03

	CHAPTER  173
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  AUGUST 4, 2003
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  AUGUST 3, 2003
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 17, 2003
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2003
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2003

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Longville

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2003

   An act to amend Sections 16100 and 16101 of, and to add Sections
16204 and 16402.5 to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 346, Longville.  Election contests.
   Under existing law, voters may contest elections for various
causes, including malconduct by a precinct board or member thereof,
an elected officer was not eligible for office, that there had been a
  bribe, that illegal votes were cast, that there were errors made
sufficient to change the result, or that there was an error in
vote-counting.
   This bill would add that an election may be challenged if eligible
voters who attempted to vote in accordance with state law were
denied the right to vote.
   Existing law permits a candidate at a primary election to contest
the nomination of an opposing candidate on specified grounds,
including that the defendant candidate would not have received as
many votes as the contestant had a sufficient number of illegal votes
not been counted.
   This bill would add the ground that the defendant would not have
received as many votes as the contestant had eligible voters
attempting to vote in accordance with state law been permitted to
vote.
   This bill would further provide that an election shall not be set
aside on account of eligible voters being denied the right to vote,
unless a sufficient number of voters were denied the right to vote as
to change the result.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 16100 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

   16100.  Any elector of a county, city, or of any political
subdivision of either may contest any election held therein, for any
of the following causes:
   (a) That the precinct board or any member thereof was guilty of
malconduct.
   (b) That the person who has been declared elected to an office was
not, at the time of the election, eligible to that office.
   (c) That the defendant has given to any elector or member of a
precinct board any bribe or reward, or has offered any bribe or
reward for the purpose of procuring his election, or has committed
any other offense against the elective franchise defined in Division
18 (commencing with Section 18000).
   (d) That illegal votes were cast.
   (e) That eligible voters who attempted to vote in accordance with
the laws of the state were denied their right to vote.
   (f) That the precinct board in conducting the election or in
canvassing the returns, made errors sufficient to change the result
of the election as to any person who has been declared elected.
   (g) That there was an error in the vote-counting programs or
summation of ballot counts.
  SEC. 2.  Section 16101 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   16101.  Any candidate at a primary election may contest the right
of another candidate to nomination to the same office by filing an
affidavit alleging any of the following grounds, that:
   (a) The defendant is not eligible to the office in dispute.
   (b) The defendant has committed any offense against the elective
franchise defined in Division 18 (commencing with Section 18000).
   (c) A sufficient number of votes were illegal, fraudulent, forged,
or otherwise improper, and that had those votes not been counted,
the defendant would not have received as many votes as the
contestant.
   (d) A sufficient number of eligible voters who attempted to vote
in accordance with the laws of the state were denied their right to
vote, and that had those voters been permitted to vote, the defendant
would not have received as many votes as the contestant.
   (e) Due to mistake, error, or misconduct the votes in any precinct
were so incorrectly counted as to change the result.
  SEC. 3.  Section 16204 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
   16204.  An election shall not be set aside on account of eligible
voters being denied the right to vote, unless it appears that a
sufficient number of voters were denied the right to vote as to
change the result.
  SEC. 4.  Section 16402.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
   16402.5.  An election shall not be set aside on account of
eligible voters being denied the right to vote, unless it appears
that a sufficient number of voters were denied the right to vote as
to change the result.