BILL NUMBER: AB 1340 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Bonnie Lowenthal and V. Manuel Perez
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Fletcher )
( Coauthor: Senator
Ducheny Coauthors: Senators
Ducheny and DeSaulnier )
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 3102, 3103, and 3103.5 of, and to add
Section Sections 3103.6 and 3103.7
to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1340, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Special absentee voters.
Existing law provides that every voter, including a special
absentee voter who is temporarily living outside of the United States
or is called for military service within the United States, must
return his or her ballot to the appropriate elections official by the
close of the polls on election day to have that ballot counted.
This bill would give a special absentee voter who is temporarily
living outside of the territorial limits of the United States or the
District of Columbia, or who is called for military service within
the United States on or after the final date to apply for a vote by
mail ballot, 10 5 days after the
election to return his or her ballot by mail to the appropriate
elections official and have it counted. This bill would require
an elections official, not later than 30 days following the
certification of each election, to report to the Secretary of State
information regarding the number of applications for absentee
ballots, the number of absentee ballots delivered, and the number of
absentee ballots received before and after election day. The
Secretary of State would then have 45 days following the
certification of the election to compile the information received and
report to the appropriate policy committees of each house of the
Legislature.
Because this bill would change the duties of elections officials,
it would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3102 of the Elections Code, as amended by
Section 1 of Chapter 252 of the Statutes of 2008, is amended to read:
3102. (a) Applications for the ballots of special absentee voters
shall be received and, except as provided in Sections 3103.5 and
3103.6, the ballots shall be received and canvassed under the same
procedure as vote by mail ballots, insofar as that procedure is not
inconsistent with this chapter.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. Section 3102 of the Elections Code, as amended by Section
2 of Chapter 252 of the Statutes of 2008, is amended to read:
3102. (a) Applications for the ballots of special absentee voters
shall be received, and the ballots shall be received and canvassed
under the same procedure as vote by mail ballots, insofar as that
procedure is not inconsistent with this chapter.
(b) This section shall become operative January 1, 2011.
SEC. 3. Section 3103 of the Elections Code, as amended by Section
3 of Chapter 252 of the Statutes of 2008, is amended to read:
3103. (a) Any application made pursuant to this chapter that is
received by the elections official prior to the 60th day before the
election shall be kept and processed on or after the 60th day before
the election.
(b) The elections official shall immediately send the voter a
ballot in a form prescribed and provided by the Secretary of State.
The elections official shall send with the ballot a list of all
candidates who have qualified for the ballot by the 60th day before
the election and a list of all measures that are to be submitted to
the voters and on which the voter is qualified to vote. The voter
shall be entitled to write in the name of any specific candidate
seeking nomination or election to any office listed on the ballot.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 15341 or any other provision of law,
any name written upon a ballot for a particular office pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall be counted for the office or nomination,
providing the candidate whose name has been written on the ballot
has, as of the date of the election, qualified to have his or her
name placed on the ballot for the office, or has qualified as a
write-in candidate for the office.
(d) Except as provided in Sections 3103.5 and 3103.6, the
elections official shall receive and canvass special absentee voter
ballots described in this section under the same procedure as vote by
mail ballots, insofar as that procedure is not inconsistent with
this section.
(e) In the event that a voter executes a special absentee ballot
pursuant to this section and an application for a vote by mail ballot
pursuant to Section 3101, the elections official shall cancel the
voter's permanent vote by mail status, and process the application in
accordance with Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 3000).
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a special absentee
voter who qualifies pursuant to this section may, by facsimile
transmission, register to vote and apply for a special absentee
ballot or a vote by mail ballot. Upon request, the elections official
may send to the qualified special absentee voter either by mail,
facsimile, or electronic transmission the special absentee ballot or,
if available, a vote by mail ballot pursuant to Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 3000).
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 4. Section 3103.5 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
3103.5. (a) (1) A special absentee voter who is temporarily
living outside of the territorial limits of the United States or the
District of Columbia, or is called for military service within the
United States on or after the final date to make application for a
special absentee ballot or a vote by mail ballot, may return his or
her ballot by facsimile transmission. To be counted, the ballot
returned by facsimile transmission must be received by the voter's
elections official no later than the closing of the polls on election
day and must be accompanied by an identification envelope containing
all of the information required by Section 3011 and an oath of voter
declaration in substantially the following form:
OATH OF VOTER
I, ______, acknowledge that by returning my voted
ballot by facsimile transmission I have waived
my right to have my ballot
kept secret. Nevertheless, I understand that, as
with any vote by mail
voter, my signature, whether on this oath of
voter form or my identification
envelope, will be permanently separated from my
voted ballot to maintain
its secrecy at the outset of the tabulation
process and thereafter.
My residence address is________
(Street
____________________________.
Address) (City) (ZIP Code)
My current mailing address is________
(Street
___________________________.
Address) (City) (ZIP Code)
My e-mail address is _________________. My
facsimile
transmission
number is _________________.
I am a resident of __________ County, State of
California, and I have
not
applied, nor intend to apply, for a vote by mail
ballot from any other jurisdiction for the same
election.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the
laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.
Dated this __________ day of ______, 20_____.
(Signature)______________________________________
Voter (Power of Attorney Cannot be
Accepted)
YOUR BALLOT CANNOT BE COUNTED UNLESS YOU SIGN
THE
ABOVE OATH AND INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR BALLOT
AND
IDENTIFICATION ENVELOPE, ALL OF WHICH ARE
RETURNED
BY FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION.
(2) Notwithstanding the voter's waiver of the right to a secret
ballot, each elections official shall adopt appropriate procedures to
protect the secrecy of ballots returned by facsimile transmission.
(3) Upon receipt of a ballot returned by facsimile transmission,
the elections official shall determine the voter's eligibility to
vote by comparing the signature on the return information with the
signature on the voter's affidavit of registration. The ballot shall
be duplicated and all materials preserved according to procedures set
forth in this code.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a special absentee voter who is
permitted to return his or her ballot by facsimile transmission is,
nonetheless, encouraged to return his or her ballot by mail or in
person if possible. A special absentee voter should return a ballot
by facsimile transmission only if doing so is necessary for the
ballot to be received before the close of polls on election day.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2011, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2011, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 5. Section 3103.6 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
3103.6. A special absentee voter who is temporarily living
outside of the territorial limits of the United States or the
District of Columbia, or is called for military service within the
United States on or after the final date to make application for a
vote by mail ballot, may return his or her ballot by mail. To be
counted, the ballot shall meet both of the following criteria:
(a) Be postmarked on or before election day.
(b) Be received by the voter's county elections official on or
before the 10th fifth day following the
election.
SEC. 6. Section 3103.7 is added to the
Elections Code , to read:
3103.7. (a) Not later than 30 days following the certification of
an election held within his or her jurisdiction, an elections
official shall report to the Secretary of State all of the following
regarding special absentee voters, as defined in subdivision (b) of
Section 300:
(1) The total number of special absentee ballots for which an
application was received for the election, including those with
permanent vote by mail status.
(2) The total number of special absentee ballots delivered by the
elections official for the election.
(3) The total number of voted special absentee ballots received by
the elections official for the election.
(4) The total number of voted special absentee ballots received by
the elections official for the election prior to 8 p.m. on election
day.
(5) The total number of voted special absentee ballots received by
the elections official for the election after 8 p.m. on election day
but before the fifth day following the election.
(6) The total number of voted special absentee ballots received by
the elections official for the election on and after the fifth day
following the election.
(7) The total number of voted special absentee ballots received by
the elections official for the election that were not postmarked on
or before election day.
(b) Not later than 60 days following the certification of the
election, the Secretary of State shall compile the information
reported pursuant to subdivision (a) and report to the appropriate
policy committees of each house of the Legislature. The report by the
Secretary of State shall include the reported totals for each
affected jurisdiction as well as statewide totals, whenever
applicable.
SEC. 6. SEC. 7. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.