BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1342
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   June 22, 2010

                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
                                  Paul Fong, Chair
                SB 1342 (Simitian) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2010

           SENATE VOTE  :   29-4
           
          SUBJECT  :   Election precincts.

           SUMMARY  :   Permits an elections official to subtract the number  
          of permanent vote by mail voters (PVBMVs) from the total number  
          of voters when creating precincts provided that the number of  
          voters in the precinct does not exceed the percentage of  
          non-PVBMVs in the jurisdiction on the 88th day prior to the  
          election multiplied by 1,000.

           EXISTING LAW  requires, whenever a jurisdiction is divided into  
          election precincts or whenever the boundary of an established  
          precinct is changed or a new precinct is created, the precinct  
          boundary to be fixed in a manner so that the number of voters in  
          the precinct does not exceed 1,000 on the 88th day prior to the  
          election.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Purpose of the Bill  :  According to the author:

               Current law caps the number of registered voters in a  
               precinct at 1,000 without regard to the number of [PVBMVs]  
               in the precinct.

               SB 1342 allows local election officials to adjust precinct  
               sizes to reflect the fact that some areas of a county have  
               high concentrations of [PVBMVs] and relatively few  
               "election day" polling place voters, while other areas of  
               the county have low concentrations of [PVBMVs] and  
               relatively more "election day" polling place voters.  This  
               is a good government measure that aims to allocate election  
               day resources equitably and efficiently. . . .

               Currently there are almost 6 million California voters  
               registered as [PVBMVs] (about 33% of the statewide total).   








                                                                  SB 1342
                                                                  Page  2

               This growing trend, and the wide variances of [PVBMVs] from  
               precinct to precinct, needs to be taken into account when  
               determining precinct size.  Otherwise, long lines and  
               waiting periods exist in some polling places while other  
               polling places sit almost empty.

               SB 1342 does not impose a mandate; it simply provides  
               counties with the flexibility to take into account the  
               rising numbers of [PVBMVs] in California when determining  
               polling place locations.  Specifically, SB 1342 allows  
               local elections officials to consider the number of  
               [PVBMVs] on a precinct by precinct basis when establishing  
               election precincts, and then adjust the precincts to better  
               serve areas with a higher concentration of voters who  
               actually go to the polls and vote in person.

               If there are two precincts right next to one another and  
               both are capped at 1,000 voters, yet one has 900 [PVBMVs]  
               and the other only has 100 [PVBMVs], locals should have the  
               ability to equalize and make adjustments, rather than be  
               forced to provide the same services on election day at both  
               places with limited resources.  
                
           2)Permanent Vote By Mail Voting  :  In the last decade, the number  
            of voters who are PVBMVs has increased significantly,  
            particularly since the enactment of AB 1520 (Shelley), Chapter  
            922, Statutes of 2001, which allowed any voter to become a  
            PVBMV.  Whereas there were fewer than 300,000 PVBMVs in  
            November 2000 according to a report from the Secretary of  
            State, there are nearly 6 million PVBMVs now, about one-third  
            of all registered voters statewide. 

          While the total number of PVBMVs has increased significantly in  
            the last 10 years, the percentage of voters registered as  
            PVBMVs varies widely from county to county.  In eight  
            counties, more than half of all registered voters are PVBMVs,  
            including two counties where more than 60 percent of  
            registered voters are PVBMVs.  On the other hand, in two  
            counties, fewer than 15 percent of registered voters are  
            PVBMVs.

           3)Shifting Precincts  :  Unlike some previous legislation dealing  
            with precinct size, the primary effect of this bill will not  
            be to reduce the number of precincts, but to shift precincts  
            within a county from areas with high concentrations of PVBMVs  








                                                                  SB 1342
                                                                  Page  3

            to areas with lower concentrations of PVBMVs, and thus to  
            roughly equalize the number of polling place voters that are  
            served by each polling place within a county.  By allowing  
            counties to balance the number of voters that are expected to  
            be served by each individual polling place, this bill could  
            help ensure that voters in one part of a county are not  
            waiting in long lines to vote while other polling places in  
            the county remain relatively empty.

           4)Previous Legislation  :  This bill is identical to SB 967  
            (Simitian) of 2008, which was vetoed by Governor  
            Schwarzenegger, though the Governor did not express any policy  
            objections to the bill.  Instead, the Governor stated in his  
            veto message that due to the "historic delay in passing the  
            2008-2009 State Budget," he was "only signing bills that are  
            the highest priority for California," and that SB 967 "[did]  
            not meet that standard."

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          League of Women Voters of California
          San Diego County
          Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
          Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
          Urban Counties Caucus
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094