BILL NUMBER: AB 2797	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Elections and Redistricting (Fong
(Chair), Adams (Vice Chair), Coto, Mendoza, Saldana, and Swanson)

                        MARCH 25, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 302, 2130, 15281, 19370, and 19384 of,
and to repeal Section 13007 of, the Elections Code, relating to
elections.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2797, as introduced, Committee on Elections and Redistricting.
Elections: voter registration and ballots.
   (1) Existing law requires the Controller to allocate and disburse
to counties, from moneys appropriated by the Legislature, amounts
necessary to reimburse the counties for costs incurred in complying
with voter registration provisions, as specified. Under existing law,
counties are required to submit to the Controller claims for those
amounts by October 31 in the year following the fiscal year in which
the costs were incurred.
   This bill would instead require counties to submit the claims to
the Controller by February 15 in the year following the fiscal year
in which the costs were incurred.
   (2) Under existing law, there is a revolving fund, which is
continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for the
purpose of paying expenses incurred by the Secretary of State for the
purchase of ballot paper and punchcards. Existing law requires the
fund to be reimbursed by the receipts from the jurisdiction obtaining
the ballot paper or punchcards.
   This bill would repeal this provision and make conforming changes.

   (3) Existing law requires a precinct board to post, outside of
each precinct and polling place, the results of the vote cast at that
precinct or polling place for at least 48 hours after the polls are
closed.
   This bill would exempt from this requirement precincts or polling
places where 10 or fewer voters cast their ballots on machines that
keep vote tallies and would instead require that the precinct board
post only the total number of voters at that precinct or polling
place.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 302 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   302.  "Ballot card" means a card or a number of cards upon which
are printed, or identified by reference to the ballot, the names of
candidates for nomination or election to one or more offices or the
ballot titles of one or more measures. The ballot card shall also
contain proper blank spaces to allow the voter to write in names not
printed on the ballot unless a separate write-in ballot is used. The
separate write-in ballot may be a paper ballot, a card, or the
envelope used to enclose a ballot card. Determination of the format
of a separate write-in ballot shall be within the discretion of the
elections board. The separate write-in ballot shall provide a blank
space followed by the word "office" and a second blank space followed
by the word "name" for purposes of facilitating write-in votes for
offices for which write-in votes may be cast, or may provide a space
for writing in the name followed by a space for punching or slotting
in order that the vote may be tabulated. All separate write-in
ballots may, in the discretion of the elections board, have attached
thereto two stubs that comply with Section 13261 regarding the stubs
attached to a ballot card, except that the information required under
subdivisions (c)  through   to  (g)  ,
inclusive,  of Section 13261 and instructions to voters on how
to vote for persons whose names do not appear on the ballot may be
printed on the write-in ballot and not upon a stub. Any serial
numbers appearing on the write-in ballot stubs need not be identical
to the serial numbers appearing on the stubs attached to the ballot
card or cards handed to the voter. Sections 13002  through
13007   to 13006, inclusive,  shall not apply to
the preparation and composition of separate write-in ballots
authorized by this section. Sections 14403 and 14404 shall not apply
to separate write-in ballots used in an election in which a punchcard
voting system is used.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2130 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   2130.  From moneys appropriated by the Legislature, the Controller
shall allocate and disburse to the counties the amounts necessary to
reimburse them for net costs incurred by them in complying with the
voter registration provisions, including the provisions authorizing
voter registration by mail and voter outreach programs, as set forth
in Chapter 704 of the Statutes of 1975, as amended. The Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Controller, shall develop a formula
for the reimbursement of these costs. The Controller shall prescribe
the forms for filing claims pursuant to this section. These claims
shall be submitted to the Controller by  October 31 
 February 15  in the year following the fiscal year in
which the costs were incurred.
  SEC. 3.  Section 13007 of the Elections Code is repealed. 
   13007.  There shall be a revolving fund for the purchase of ballot
paper and punchcards. The fund shall be continuously appropriated
and shall be continuously utilized without regard to fiscal years for
the payment of expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in
accordance with this section. The fund shall be used for the purchase
of ballot paper and punchcards, as provided in this chapter, and
shall be reimbursed by the receipts from the jurisdiction obtaining
the ballot paper or punchcards in accordance with this chapter. The
fund shall at all times be intact and represented either by cash in
the State Treasury, ballot paper, or punchcards in the custody of the
Secretary of State, or accounts receivable representing ballot paper
or punchcard sales. 
  SEC. 4.  Section 15281 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   15281.  The precinct board shall sign and post conspicuously on
the outside of the polling place a copy of the result of the votes
cast. The copy shall remain posted for at least 48 hours after the
official time fixed for the closing of the polls.  In cases where
fewer than 10 voters cast ballots on machines on which the results
are tallied at the precinct and posting the results may violate a
person's right to cast a secret ballot under Section 7 of Article II
of the California Constitution  , the precinct board shall
post only the total number of people who voted at the precinct on
machines that keep vote tallies. 
  SEC. 5.  Section 19370 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   19370.  As soon as the polls are closed, the precinct board, in
the presence of the watchers and all others lawfully present, shall
immediately lock the voting machine against voting and open the
counting compartments, giving full view of all counter numbers. A
board member shall  ,  in the order of the offices as their
titles are arranged on the machine, read and distinctly announce the
name or designating number and letter on each counter for each
candidate's name and the result as shown by the counter numbers. He
or she shall also in the same manner announce the vote on each
measure.
   If the machine is provided with a recording device, in lieu of
opening the counter compartment the precinct board shall proceed to
operate the mechanism to produce the statement of return of votes
cast record in a minimum of three copies, remove the irregular
ballot, if any, record on the statement of return of votes cast
record. The irregular ballot shall be attached to the statement of
result record of votes cast for the machine and become a part
thereof. One copy of the statement of return of votes cast for each
machine shall be posted upon the outside wall of the precinct for all
to see.  In cases where fewer than 10 voters cast ballots on
machines on which the results are tallied at the precinct and posting
the results may violate a person's right to cast a secret ballot
under Section 7 of Article II of the California Constitution, the
precinct board shall post only the total number of people who voted
at that precinct on machines that keep vote tallies.  The
statement of return of votes cast for each machine for the precinct
shall constitute the precinct statement of result of votes cast.
  SEC. 6.  Section 19384 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   19384.  The precinct board shall, before it adjourns, post
conspicuously on the outside of the polling place a copy of the
result of the votes cast at the polling place. The copy of the result
shall be signed by the members of the precinct board. In cases
where fewer than 10 voters cast ballots on machines on which the
results are tallied at the precinct and posting the results may
violate a person's right to cast a secret ballot under Section 7 of
Article II of the California Constitution, the precinct board shall
post only the total number of people who voted at that precinct on
machines that keep vote tallies. 
   If the machine is provided with a recording device, the statement
of result of votes cast produced by operating its mechanism may be
considered the "result of the votes cast" at the polling place.