BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 308
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 29, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                  AB 308 (Cook) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires a local elections official to prepare a  
          special runoff ballot-for each primary, special, or general  
          election for which there may be a run-off election within 90  
          days-and send that ballot, along with the regular absentee  
          ballot, to all qualified overseas voters. The special runoff  
          ballot shall permit the voter to indicate their order of  
          preference for each candidate for each office, so that the  
          elector's vote may be counted if there is a runoff election.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          The number of run-off elections held each year statewide within  
          the 90-day window is unknown, although several cities have such  
          run-offs on a biennial basis.  In addition, elections to fill  
          vacancies in Congress and in the Legislature often result in a  
          runoff.  There were approximately 103,000 voters for the  
          November 2008 election.  Assuming 10% would participate in  
          runoff elections each year statewide, and assuming 20 special  
          runoff ballots could be processed and hand tabulated per hour at  
          staff costs averaging $100 per hour, annual state reimbursable  
          costs would be about $50,000.  The additional cost to prepare  
          and disseminate special instructions for the runoff ballot would  
          be around $1,000 per election. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "The use of a ranked ballot  
            insures that the tight deadlines imposed by the two-round  
            runoff election format will not leave out overseas voters,  
            including those in the armed forces. It has already been used  
            successfully in Louisiana and Arkansas and was recently  








                                                                  AB 308
                                                                  Page  2

            adopted in South Carolina as well. The number of elections in  
            California that would be affected is relatively small,  
            however, every voter's right to vote is sacrosanct, and every  
            election is important."

           2)Prior Legislation  .  This bill is substantially similar to AB  
            1662 (Cook), 2007, which was held on Suspense in Senate  
            Appropriations.

            AB 188 (Maze)/Chapter 347 of 2003, (a) made all overseas  
            voters permanent absentee voters, thereby eliminating the need  
            for overseas military voters and other overseas voters to  
            request an absentee ballot for each separate election, (b)  
            required that all overseas voters be mailed an absentee ballot  
            60 days before the election, to ensure that the voter has  
            sufficient time to receive, complete, and return his or her  
            absentee ballot, and (c) allowed the elections official to  
            send an overseas voter his or her absentee ballot by  
            electronic transmission.


            AB 2941 (Bates)/Chapter 821 of 2004, permits special absentee  
            voters who are temporarily living outside the United States to  
            return their ballots by facsimile transmission.



           3)Opposition  .  The California Association of Clerks and  
            Elections Officials was opposed to the substantially similar  
            AB 1662 of 2007, citing concerns that use of the special  
            runoff ballot could engender much confusion among voters.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081