BILL ANALYSIS
AB 30
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 30 (Price)
As Amended September 2, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |49-29|(May 21, 2009) |SENATE: |22-15|(September 3, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Allows a person who is 17 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 17 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
17 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.
The Senate amendments :
1)Change the age at which a person is allowed to pre-register to
vote from 16 years old to 17 years old.
AB 30
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2)Add double-jointing language to avoid chaptering problems with
SB 6 (Maldonado), Chapter 1, Statutes of 2009.
3)Make technical non-substantive changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill authorized a person who was
at least 16 years of age and who otherwise met all eligibility
requirements to register to vote.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the exact costs for implementation of this bill are
unknown and will depend on the number of 17 year olds that
choose to participate in the pre-registration program. There
will be offsetting savings in future years only if some of the
pre-registrants would have registered to vote upon turning age
18 anyway. To the extent that this program is successful and
captures a population of new voters who would not have otherwise
registered to vote, there will be reimbursable costs from the
General Fund.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The Secretary of State
[estimates that] 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.
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.
AB 30
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Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
FN: 0002880