BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2797
          Author:   Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee
          Amended:  8/19/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM.  :  4-0, 6/29/10
          AYES:  Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Denham

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 5/13/10 (Consent) - See last page  
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Elections:  voter registration and ballots

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill makes various changes in the existing  
          law governing elections as follows:  (a) moves back the  
          deadline for a county to submit claims for reimbursement  
          for costs incurred by the county in complying with various  
          voter registration laws from October 31 to February 15 in  
          the year following the fiscal year in which the costs were  
          incurred; (b) provides that in cases where a precinct board  
          is required to post the results of ballots cast on a voting  
          machine at the precinct, the precinct board shall not do so  
          with respect to any machine on which fewer than 10 voters  
          cast ballots, in order to protect the secrecy of those  
          voters' ballots; and (c) provides that if a precinct board  
          tallies votes manually at the polling place and fewer than  
          10 voters cast ballots at that polling place, the precinct  
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          2

          board shall post only the total number of people who voted  
          at the precinct instead of posting the results of ballots  
          cast at that precinct.

           Assembly Amendments  remove language from the bill repealing  
          of an obsolete provision of law that establishes a  
          revolving fund for the purchase of ballot paper.

           ANALYSIS  :    

           Ballot Paper Revolving Fund  :  Existing law establishes a  
          continuously-appropriated revolving fund in the state  
          treasury for the purchase of ballot paper and punchcards.   
          However, according to the office of the Secretary of State,  
          that provision of law is obsolete, and the revolving fund  
          is not used for the purchase of ballot paper.

          This bill repeals the provisions of existing law that  
          establish the revolving fund, and makes a corresponding  
          change.

           Posting of Election Results  :  Existing law requires the  
          results of votes cast on voting machines at a polling place  
          to be posted outside the polling place after the polls  
          close on Election Day.  However, because of changes in  
          technology and restrictions on the use of certain types of  
          voting machines, most counties have only one voting machine  
          per polling place, which is used to comply with state and  
          federal laws that require that voters with disabilities be  
          given the opportunity to cast a vote without assistance.   
          As a result, it is often the case that few ballots are cast  
          on a voting machine at a polling place, so posting the  
          results of votes cast on those machines could compromise  
          the secrecy of the ballot of those voters who used that  
          machine.

          This proposal provides that 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, the precinct  
          board shall post only the total number of people who voted  
          at the precinct on machines that keep vote tallies.   
          Additionally, this bill provides that if a precinct board  
          tallies votes manually at the polling place and fewer than  

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          10 voters cast ballots at that polling place, the precinct  
          board shall post only the total number of people who voted  
          at the precinct instead of posting the results of ballots  
          cast at that precinct.  These provisions were requested to  
          be included in an omnibus bill by the Secretary of State's  
          office.

           Comments
           
           Ballot Paper Revolving Fund  .  Existing law establishes a  
          continuously-appropriated revolving fund in the state  
          treasury for the purchase of ballot paper and punchcards.   
          However, according to the office of the Secretary of State,  
          that provision of law is obsolete, and the revolving fund  
          is not used for the purchase of ballot paper.

          This bill repeals the provisions of existing law that  
          establish the revolving fund, and makes a corresponding  
          change.

           Previous Legislation

           SB 541 (Pavley) of 2009, proposed to repeal the provisions  
          of the Elections Code that establish the ballot paper  
          revolving fund, similar to a provision in this bill.  SB  
          541 was vetoed by the Governor for unrelated reasons.

          SB 1404 (Pavley), from this year is a reintroduction of SB  
          541, and similarly proposes to repeal the provisions of the  
          Elections Code that establish the ballot paper revolving  
          fund.  This bill is in the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT :   (Verified  8/19/10)

          Secretary of State
          State Controller John Chiang


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,  

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                                                               AB 2797
                                                                Page  
          4

            Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,  
            Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles  
            Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De  
            La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,  
            Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,  
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,  
            Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,  
            Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,  
            Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,  
            Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,  
            Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,  
            Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,  
            Yamada, John A. Perez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Caballero, Norby, Skinner, Vacancy


          DLW:do  8/22/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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