BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 172|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 172
Author: Florez (D)
Amended: 4/13/09
Vote: 21
SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COM. : 3-2, 4/21/09
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Walters, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Voter registration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill specifies that a voters registration
may be cancelled by a county election's official if a
voter's name has been placed on the inactive file of
registered voters for failure to respond to a confirmation
mailing, an address verification mailing or who does not
offer to vote or vote at any election between the date of
the mailing and four presidential elections after the date
of that mailing, and makes minor clarifying and conforming
changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law provides that a voter's registration is
permanent for all purposes during his/her life, unless and
until the affidavit of registration is canceled by a county
CONTINUED
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elections official for a specified cause.
Existing law allows the county elections official to send
an alternate residency confirmation postcard that describes
the alternate residency procedure to a voter if that voter
has not voted in any election within the preceding for
years, and his/her residence address, name , or party
affiliation had not been updated during that time.
The alternate residency procedure is initiated by mailing a
nonforwardable postcard to the voter preceding the direct
primary election. Postcards mailed pursuant to this
article must be sent "address Correction Requested, Return
Postage Guaranteed," and must be in substantially the
following format:
"We are requesting your assistance in correcting the
addresses of voters who have moved and have not
reregistered.
1.If you still live at the address noted on this postcard,
you voter registration will remain in effect and you may
disregard this notice.
2.If the person named on this postcard is not at this
address, plese return this postcard to your mail
carrier."
In lieu of mailing a residency conformation postcard,
county elections officials may also contract with the
United States Postal Service to obtain use of postal
service change-of-address data, such as the National Change
of Address System (NCOA) and Operation Mail.
Existing law authorizes a county elections official to
cancel the voter registration of a voter whose name has
been placed on the inactive file of registered voters for
failure to act on any of the following:
1.Respond to a confirmation mailing.
2.Respond to an address verification mailing.
3.Not offering to vote or not voting in any election
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between the date of the mailing and two federal general
elections after the date of that mailing.
Any voter, whose registration was canceled for failure to
comply with these requirements, will have to reregister
with elections officials.
Background
The Voter Inactive File : Generally, when a voter is placed
on the inactive voter file, their data does not get deleted
from the county's database, but rather is flagged as
canceled. Any voter whose name has been placed on the
inactive file of registered voters and offers to vote at
any election between the date of the verification notice,
and two federal general elections after the date of notice,
or who notifies the elections official of a continued
residency, shall be removed from the inactive file and
placed on the active voter file. Allowing the voter's name
to remain on the inactive voter file for an additional
length of time should not result in any additional costs,
add to county workers existing duties, nor clog the active
voter file with deadwood since this is a completely
separate file that is already maintained by the individual
counties.
Prior/Related legislation.
AB 452 (Arambula), Chapter 317, Statutes of 2007 required
the voter notification card, which is required to be sent
to all registered or re-registered voters, to include a
notification that the card may have been sent due to a
change in party affiliation.
AB 1862 (Benoit) of 2008 would have required every county
to conduct an alternate residency confirmation process
annually for voters who have not voted in the previous four
years and specifically would have provided that if a voter
did not respond to certain residency confirmation mailings,
and the voter did not vote in the next federal election
that is at least one year after the date of the mailing,
the voter would be placed on the inactive roster of voters
within six months of the federal election. AB 1862 was set
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but never heard in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting
Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/12/09)
Secretary of State
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/12/09)
Orange County Board of Supervisors
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
during the past election cycle there were over 17 million
registered voters in the state of California. There were
many voters who returned to the polls after years of not
casting a vote. Many of these returning voters were
appalled to learn that they had been removed from the voter
registration files and told their vote would not count
because they were 'cancelled' voters in the system.
Secretary of State, writes, "Current law provides that if a
voter has not voted in any election within the preceding
four years, and their voter registration information has
not been changed during that time, the county elections
official will send an Alternate Residency Confirmation
(ARC) card to the voter. To remain on the active voter
list, the voter must respond within 15 days by returning
the prepaid return postcard. If the voter does not respond
and does not attempt to vote at any election in the period
between the date of the notice (ARC card) and the second
federal general election after the notice is sent, their
voter registration will be canceled and the voter will have
to reregister in order to vote. As amended, SB 172 simply
extends the period of time for a voter to remain on the
inactive file from two to four presidential elections.
Increasing this time period will ensure voters are
enfranchised and have the ability to participate in future
elections. The cost to implement SB 172 should be
negligible, if any."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Orange County Board of
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Supervisors state that extending the amount of time an
inactive voter must remain in the voter database for 16
years is damaging to the quality of data contained in the
voter rolls. The department works to maintain an
up-to-date and accurate voter database, which is partially
achieved by purging the inactive voter rolls every two
years. Allowing a voter to remain on the inactive file for
16 years will result in a substantially larger inactive
file with a greater probability that the data contained
therein will not be accurate. By allowing a voter to
remain inactive for 16 years with little consequence, a
voter is less likely to update their information with the
office when they move, change names, change parties, or
make other critical changes to their voter registration.
Additionally, all poling places are required to have a list
of inactive voters should an inactive voter choose to vote
at their polling place on Election Day. This list would
undoubtedly be extremely large and cumbersome, and could
result in longer wait times at the polls while poll workers
struggle to search for a name amongst thousands.
Voters who are on the inactive rolls have the option of
re-activating by voting at their polling place on Election
Day. Extending the amount of time a voter may remain on
these rolls to 16 years will greatly increase the
likelihood that a voter will vote at a polling place that
does not correspond to their current address. Without
demonstrating any proof of residency or updating their
voter registration information, a voter may vote at the
polls despite having moved out of city, county or beyond.
While this may occur under the current law, limiting the
time a voter remains inactive helps to prevent this.
DLW:do 5/12/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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