BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 193
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          Date of Hearing:   March 29, 2011

                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
                                  Paul Fong, Chair
                  AB 193 (Knight) - As Introduced:  January 27, 2011
           
                              AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED

          SUBJECT  :  Polling place designation.

           SUMMARY  :  Prohibits a single family home from being designated 
          as a polling place if it is the residence of a registered sex 
          offender.  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Prohibits a single family home from being designated as a 
            polling place if it is the residence of a person who is 
            required to register pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration 
            Act (SORA).

          2)Requires elections officials, at a minimum, to consult the 
            database of registered sex offenders that is maintained by the 
            Department of Justice prior to designating a location as a 
            polling place.

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Generally requires persons convicted of enumerated sex 
            offenses pursuant to SORA to register within five working days 
            of coming into a city or county, with specified law 
            enforcement officials in the city, county, or city and county 
            where he or she is domiciled.

          2)Requires the elections official to designate a polling place 
            for each precinct at least 29 days prior to the election.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.  State-mandated local program; contains 
          reimbursement direction.

           COMMENTS :   

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

               Several articles were published this past summer outlining 
               the discovery of polling locations being at the residences 
               of registered sex offenders. When the news station decided 








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               to investigate further, the results were astonishing. It 
               was discovered in a rough search that there were 19 polling 
               places in 5 bay area counties that were listed on Megan's 
               Law website as the residences of sex offenders. . . .

               Often, at polling locations, high school students 
               volunteer, parents bring their children and there is an 
               expectation of security. When there are so many options 
               available for locations, why would a polling location be 
               placed at the residence of a sex offender? When information 
               regarding sex offender locations is available on a 
               comprehensive public database, the Counties and State 
               should consult it prior to designating a polling place.  

           2)Author's Amendments :  In an effort to address concerns raised 
            by the California Association of Clerks and Election 
            Officials, as described below, and by committee staff, the 
            author is proposing amendments that would limit the 
            application of this bill to situations where a single family 
            home has been designated as a polling place for an election.  
            This analysis reflects those proposed author's amendments.  

          3)Workload and State Mandates  :  According to information from 
            the United States Election Assistance Commission, there were 
            more than 15,000 polling places open in California on election 
            day at the 2008 Presidential General Election.  Under the 
            provisions of this bill, elections officials would be required 
            to look up every single family home that potentially will be 
            used as a polling place on the state's sex offender registry 
            before designating any of those residences as a polling place. 
             The exact number of polling places that are located at single 
            family residences in a typical election is unknown, and the 
            percentage of polling places located at single family 
            residences varies significantly from county to county, with 
            some counties locating more than 20 percent of polling places 
            at single family homes while other counties do not locate any 
            polling places at single family residences.  However, based on 
            a review of polling locations in selected counties for the 
            November 2010 general election, it appears likely that not 
            more than 10 percent of polling places statewide are located 
            at single family residences.

          The 2011-2012 State Budget that was approved by the Legislature 
            on March 17, 2011, suspends most existing state-mandated local 
            programs as a mechanism for cost savings.  Among the mandates 








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            that were suspended were a requirement for counties to allow 
            any voter to become a permanent vote by mail (VBM) voter and a 
            requirement for counties to tabulate VBM ballots by precinct.  
            In fact, all six existing elections-related mandates were 
            suspended in the 2011-2012 budget bill.  The Committee may 
            wish to consider whether it is desirable to establish new 
            election mandates on counties when the Legislature has voted 
            to suspend the existing election mandates.  

          4)Siting of Polling Places  :  Notwithstanding the author's 
            contention that there are many options available for the 
            siting of polling places, at previous elections, elections 
            officials have reported difficulty in finding a sufficient 
            number of locations for polling places.  In particular, 
            elections officials often have trouble locating polling places 
            that are accessible to disabled voters, as required by state 
            and federal law.  By potentially limiting the number of 
            locations that are available to be used as polling places, 
            this bill could make it more difficult for elections officials 
            to locate polling places in compliance with state and federal 
            accessibility laws and in locations that are convenient for 
            voters.  The proposed author's amendments, however, may 
            mitigate this concern to some degree.  
          
           5)Concerns Expressed  :  Although it has not taken an official 
            position on this bill, the California Association of Clerks 
            and Election Officials has expressed numerous concerns with 
            the introduced version of this bill.  In its letter to the 
            author, the Association writes the following:

               While understanding the concerns prompting the legislation, 
               implementing the proposal would impose an onerous task and 
               ongoing costs on counties.  Polling locations would have to 
               be checked prior to each election, as individuals relocate 
               and polling locations change.  With approximately 5,000 
               polling places in Los Angeles County alone, the time and 
               expense to check each location would be significant. . . .

               In addition, implementation would likely result in 
               decreased access for non-offender voters, as polling places 
               in large apartment complexes or assisted living facilities 
               would be among those most likely to be required to be 
               moved.  Further, voters who have been voting at the same 
               location for many years would have to be redirected to 
               another facility in the event a registrant moved into the 








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               facility where the polling place had previously been 
               located.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Police Chiefs Association (as introduced)
          Crimes Victims United of California (as introduced)

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094