BILL ANALYSIS
SB 541
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 541 (Pavley)
As Amended August 24, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :22-15
ELECTIONS 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fong, Coto, Mendoza, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, |
| |Swanson | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| | | |Davis, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |John A. Perez, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Hill |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Adams, Bill Berryhill |Nays:|Conway, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Audra Strickland |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires voting system vendors and ballot paper
manufacturers to notify the Secretary of State (SOS) of any flaws
or defects that they discover in their products. Requires ballot
paper manufacturers and finishers to pay the costs associated with
facility inspections by the SOS. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a voting system vendor that knows of, or becomes aware
of, a defect, fault, or failure in the voting system or a part
of the voting system, to notify the SOS and all local elections
officials who use the system of that defect, fault, or failure.
Requires this notification to be made within 30 calendar days
from the date after the vendor learns of the defect, fault, or
failure, or at the time the system is submitted for review by
the SOS. Requires all known defects, faults, or failures on
systems that are currently approved for use in California to be
disclosed no later than January 8, 2010.
2)Requires the SOS to notify the United States Election Assistance
Commission (EAC) of any defect, fault, or failure disclosed to
the SOS by a voting system vendor pursuant to this bill.
3)Requires a ballot card manufacturer or finisher to disclose any
SB 541
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known flaw or defect in its manufacturing or finishing process
in writing to the SOS not later than five working days before
the SOS begins his or her initial inspection of that
manufacturer's or finisher's facilities. Requires a ballot card
manufacturer or finisher that has been approved by the SOS to
notify the SOS and affected local elections officials in writing
within two business days after it discovers any flaw or defect
in its manufacturing or finishing process.
4)Requires the SOS to inspect manufacturing, finishing, and
storage facilities for ballot cards biennially. Requires the
costs associated with the biennial inspection to be paid by the
ballot card manufacturer or finisher.
5)Permits the SOS to seek injunctive and administrative relief
when a voting system or part of a voting system is defective due
to a known hardware, software, or firmware defect, fault, or
failure that has not been disclosed as required by this bill.
Permits the SOS to seek all of the following relief for a known
but undisclosed defect, fault, or failure in a voting system or
part of a voting system approved or conditionally approved for
use in California:
a) Refund of all moneys paid by a local agency for a voting
system or part of a voting system that is defective due to a
known but undisclosed defect, fault, or failure;
b) A civil penalty from the offending party not to exceed
$50,000 per violation; and,
c) A penalty of $1,000 for each day between the deadline for
the vendor to disclose the defect, fault, or failure and the
day when the required disclosure is filed with the SOS.
6)Repeals an obsolete provision of law that establishes a
revolving fund for the purchase of ballot paper.
7)Changes terminology in the Elections Code from "punchcards" to
"ballot cards."
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor annual revenue to the SOS from vendor reimbursements for
SOS inspections of ballot card manufacturing and finishing
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facilities. The SOS indicates that there are currently 27 such
entities.
2)Minor absorbable costs to the SOS for enforcement of the bill's
provisions, and potential revenue to the SOS from civil
penalties.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Under current law, ballot
vendors and voting system vendors are not required to inform the
Secretary of State about previously undisclosed flaws in their
product before or after an election. . . . This bill would help
prevent future errors and discrepancies surrounding our voting
processes, by requiring voting system vendors and ballot
manufacturers to notify the Secretary of State about problems and
flaws with their respective systems and ballots, before and after
an election. Also, current law requires only voting system
vendors to pay the costs associated with the Secretary of State's
inspection of their product. This bill would also require ballot
vendors to pay the costs associated with the Secretary of State's
inspection of their facilities, mirroring the requirement imposed
on voting system vendors."
This bill is prompted in part by an incident in Humboldt County
during the November 2008 election that resulted in the deletion of
nearly 200 votes cast in that election. The deletion was caused
by a programming error in a version of the election management
software produced by Premier Elections Solutions. Premier knew of
this problem at least four years prior to the November 2008
election, and developed a "work-around" to avoid the deletion of
ballots. While Premier did notify elections officials in the 11
affected California counties of the "work-around," they did not
explain why it was necessary. Furthermore, Premier did not
provide notice of the defect to the National Association of State
Election Directors, the EAC, SOS or to the public. When the
Humboldt County employee who had been notified of the
"work-around" left Humboldt County for another job in 2007, that
employee did not pass the information about the "work-around"
along to anyone else in the county elections official's office.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0002273