BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 30 HEARING DATE:7/7/09
AUTHOR: PRICE ANALYSIS BY:Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Elections: voter registration.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law 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.
Existing law requires the local registrar of births and
deaths to notify the county elections official no 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.
Existing federal law establishes the Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) of 2002 which, among other provisions, requires
states to implement a statewide voter registration
database.
This bill 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.
This bill 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.
This bill 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 HAVA.
BACKGROUND
Current State Practice : Conditions for legally registering
to vote in California elections require that an individual
be a citizen of the United States, a resident of California
not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony
and at least 18-years of age before the next election.
Eligible voters register by completing and signing the
affidavit registration swearing that he or she is a citizen
and has reached the required age. Since passage of HAVA,
first-time voters in federal elections mush show proof of
residency either at the time of registration or when they
show up at the polls for the first time.
Pre-Registration Efforts in Other States : 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.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author : According to the SOS, 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,
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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. The state has taken some
important steps to encourage participation by younger
voters - for instance, the SOS 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.
2. Previous and Related Legislation : This bill is nearly
identical to AB 1819 (Price) of 2008 and similarly
related to AB 106 (Price) of this year. AB 1819 was
held on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File last
year while AB 106 suffered a similar fate this year as
it was held under submission in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee. AB 106 would have allowed a
person to vote when he or she applied for a driver's
license, state identification card, or filed a state tax
return unless that person opted-out. If the person
applying for a driver's license or filing a tax return
is not yet 18-years old, AB 106 would have resulted in
that person being automatically registered to vote once
they reached the required voting age.
ACA 2 (Furutani) recently passed out of the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee and is awaiting
hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and
would allow 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.
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PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-2
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 11-5
Assembly Floor: 49-29
POSITIONS
Sponsor: New America Foundation
Support: AARP
California Common Cause
California Public Interest Research Group
(CALPIRG)
California Young Democrats
Californians for Electoral Reform
City of Los Angeles
FairVote
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Loyola Marymount University
Project Vote
Rock the Vote
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Secretary of State
State Building and Construction Trades Council of
California
Stephanie Starks HOPE Foundation (SSHF)
Oppose: Capitol Resource Family Impact
Department of Finance
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