BILL ANALYSIS
AB 30
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Date of Hearing: March 31, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 30 (Price) - As Introduced: December 1, 2008
SUBJECT : Elections: voter registration.
SUMMARY : Allows a person who is 16 years of age to
pre-register to vote, provided he or she would otherwise meet
all eligibility requirements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a person who is at least 16 years of age and who
otherwise meets all eligibility requirements to vote to submit
his or her affidavit of registration. Specifies that a
properly executed registration shall be deemed effective as of
the date that the affiant will be 18 years of age, provided
that the information in the affidavit of registration is still
current at that time. Requires the registrant to provide
current information to the county elections official before
the registration becomes effective if the information in the
current affidavit is incorrect.
2)Requires the local registrar of births and deaths to notify
the county elections official monthly of all deceased persons
16 years of age and over whose deaths were registered with him
or her or of whose deaths he or she was notified by the state
registrar of vital statistics.
3)Provides that the bill shall become operative only if the
Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that the state has a
statewide voter registration database that complies with the
requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of
2002 (42 U.S.C. Section 15301 et seq.).
4)Makes corresponding changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits a person who is a United States citizen, a resident of
California, not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a
felony, and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next
election to register to vote.
2)Requires the local registrar of births and deaths to notify
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the county elections official not later than the 15th day of
each month of all deceased persons 18 years of age and over,
whose deaths were registered with him or her or of whose
deaths he or she was notified by the state registrar of vital
statistics during the preceding month.
3)Establishes HAVA which, among other provisions, requires
states to implement a statewide voter registration database.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to an Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis of a substantially similar bill from last
session, there are minor costs to the General Fund of up to
$25,000 for the SOS to print and mail voter registration
materials. These costs would be offset to some extent by
savings from those who would have otherwise registered at the
age of 18. Additionally, counties could incur cost to reprogram
their election management system to provide pre-registration
capability. These cost are unknown, however, the assumption is
that each county would incur an additional $5,000 totaling
$290,000 statewide. These costs could be minimized if the
pre-registration feature is accommodated simultaneously with the
counties' integration of their election management systems with
the new statewide voter database (VoteCal).
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
According to the Secretary of State, more than 7.2 million
eligible voters in California are not registered to vote -
nearly one-third of California's eligible voters. Among
young voters, participation is even lower - according to
data from the U.S. Census, more than 45 percent of eligible
voters in California between 18 and 24 years of age were
not registered to vote in 2004 (the most recent data
available). Furthermore, while participation by younger
voters has increased in the last few elections, California
is ranked just 36th in the nation for turnout among young
voters.
Research shows that people who get involved in the
political process at a young age are much more likely to
become lifelong voters, so facilitating participation by
younger voters can have positive long term effects on
overall voter participation.
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The state has taken some important steps to encourage
participation by younger voters - for instance, the
Secretary of State worked with Rock the Vote to create a
"birthday card" program where voter registration cards are
mailed to more than 30,000 Californians each month on their
18th birthday. However, it is imperative that the state do
everything possible to encourage participation by
California's young voters.
AB 30 seeks to improve voter participation among younger
voters by allowing a person to pre-register to vote when he
or she becomes 16 years old, if they otherwise meet all
other eligibility requirements. Once a "pre-registrant"
reaches 18 years of age, their registration would be
activated and the voter would receive a sample ballot and
other election materials for the first election in which
they are eligible to vote.
To minimize the costs of AB 30, this bill will not be
implemented until the Secretary of State certifies a
statewide voter registration database that complies with
the requirements of the federal HAVA.
2)Pre-Registration Efforts in Other States and in California :
At least nine other states currently permit pre-registration
by individuals who have not yet reached voting age. Hawaii
allows 16 year olds to pre-register to vote, while Florida
allows individuals who are at least 16 years of age to
register if they have a driver's license. Floridians who do
not have a driver's license can register to vote once they are
17 years old. Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Wisconsin, Missouri,
Oregon and Texas all permit pre-registration by 17 year olds.
3)Arguments in Support : According to the New America
Foundation:
Young people are more negatively impacted by our voter
registration system than any other demographic groups. In
2008, a presidential election year that saw high levels of
voter mobilization, nevertheless nearly half of eligible
voters between the ages of 18-24 remained unregistered (and
in non-presidential elections that rate is even lower).
This lack of civic participation is a threat to good
governance and a healthy democracy.
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One of the most effective ways to engage young people is to
lower the age for voter registration to sixteen. Within
each high school, implementation could be facilitated in
various ways. Several means of registration could be
employed, including registering students in their high
school civics class, or as part of a student assembly or
"Civics Day" in which students are visited by local
political leaders. Students also could register to vote on
the Internet, a practice that already is available in
California. High schools might implement a "voter's ed"
curriculum for high schoolers (just as many have "driver's
ed" now), providing a means to introduce more young people
to the importance of civic engagement.
Over time, as all 16 to 18-year-olds are pre-registered to
vote, California would move closer to 100 percent voter
registration. The teenage population is more ethnically
diverse than the overall state population, so targeting
young voters is an opportunity to increase participation
among under represented minority groups. Such a policy
would register millions of young people in an orderly way,
and generate more understanding of the value of our
representative democracy.
According to FairVote, "although registering to vote does not
guarantee participation, statistics show that the vast
majority of those registered actually do turnout on the
Election Day. Over 79 percent of registered voters voted in
the 2008 presidential election in California. In addition,
research shows that voting is habit-forming; people who get
involved in the political process at a young age are much more
likely to become lifelong voters, so AB 30 can have positive
effects on overall participation in the long run".
4)Arguments in Opposition : In opposition to this bill, Capitol
Resource Family Impact writes, "One of the essential
requirements for voting is the Constitution's twenty-sixth
amendment: voters must be eighteen years of age. This bill is
an attempt to get more young people to vote. Instead of
placing another burden on local government of obtaining
affidavits from every sixteen-year-old, schools should
encourage civic responsibility including registering to vote
at eighteen."
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5)Previous Legislation : This bill is substantially similar to
AB 1819 (Price) of 2008. AB 1819 was held on the Senate
Appropriations Suspense File.
6)Related Legislation : AB 106 (Price), also being heard in this
committee today will allow a person to vote when he or she
applies for a driver's license, state identification card, or
files a state tax return unless that person opts-out. If the
person applying for a driver's license or filing a tax return
is not yet 18 years old, AB 106 will result in that person
being automatically registered to vote once they reach the
required voting age.
ACA 2 (Furutani) which is awaiting referral to the committee
by the Assembly Rules Committee allows a person who is 17
years old and who will be 18 years old at the time of the next
general election to register and vote in that general election
and in any intervening primary or special election that occurs
after the person registers to vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
New America Foundation (sponsor)
California Common Cause
California Public Interest Research Group
California Young Democrats
City of Los Angeles
FairVote
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Loyola Marymount University
Rock the Vote
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
Opposition
Capitol Resource Family Impact
Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094