BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: AB 216 HEARING DATE:7/06/12
AUTHOR: SWANSON ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 7/5/12
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Voters: residency confirmation
DESCRIPTION
Note: Recent amendments deleted all prior provisions of AB
216.
Existing law requires elections officials to conduct a
preelection residence confirmation procedure by mailing a
specified nonforwardable postcard to each registered voter
of the county by the 90th day immediately prior to the
primary election.
Existing law requires the procedure be initiated by mailing
a nonforwardable postcard to each registered voter of the
county preceding the direct primary election, and that the
postcards mailed be sent "Address Correction Requested,
Return Postage Guaranteed," and be in substantially the
following form:
"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,
your 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, please return this postcard to your mail
carrier."
Existing law permits the county elections official to
contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) or
its licensees to obtain use of postal service
change-of-address data, such as the National Change of
Address System (NCOA) and Operation Mail, in lieu of
mailing a residency confirmation postcard.
Existing law authorizes a county elections official, if a
voter has not voted in any election within the preceding 4
years, and the residence, address, name, or party
affiliation of the voter has not been updated during that
time, to send an alternate residency confirmation postcard
that describes the alternate residency procedure. The
alternate residency confirmation postcard is sent
subsequent to NCOA or sample ballot returns when a voter
has not voted in any election within the preceding four
years, and his or her address, name, or party affiliation
had not been updated during that time. The postcard shall
be forwardable, including a postage-paid and preaddressed
return form to enable the voter to verify or correct the
address information and shall be in substantially the
following form:
"If the person named on the postcard is not at this
address, PLEASE help keep the voter rolls current and save
taxpayer dollars by returning this postcard to your mail
carrier."
"IMPORTANT NOTICE"
"According to our records you have not voted in any
election during the past four years, which may indicate
that you no longer reside in ____ County. If you
continue to reside in this county you must confirm your
residency address in order to remain on the active voter
list and receive election materials in the mail."
"If confirmation has not been received within 15 days,
you may be required to provide proof of your residence
address in order to vote at future elections and, if you
do not appear or offer to vote at any election in the
period between the date of this notice and the second
federal general election after the date of this notice,
your voter registration will be cancelled and you will
have to reregister in order to vote. If you no longer
live in ____ County, you must reregister at your new
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residence address in order to vote in the next election.
California residents may obtain a mail registration form
by calling the county elections office of the Secretary
of State's Office."
The use of a toll-free number to confirm the old residence
address is optional. Any change to a voter's address shall
be received in writing.
Existing law further provides that if a county uses the
alternate residency confirmation procedure, the county is
required to notify all voters of the procedure in the
sample ballot pamphlet or in a separate mailing. A voter
in that county is also given the opportunity to vote at a
statewide primary or general election between the date of
the notice and the beginning of the alternate residency
procedure.
Existing law requires the county elections official, based
on the change-of-address information received in conducting
the residency confirmation, or the change-of-address
information provided directly by the voter, to correct or
cancel, among other things, the voter's registration.
Existing law further authorizes a county elections official
to cancel the voter registration of a voter who does not
offer to vote or vote at any election between the date of
the confirmation mailing and 2 federal general elections
after the date of that mailing.
This bill would permit a county elections official, in lieu
of mailing a residency confirmation postcard, to contract
with a consumer credit reporting agency or its licensees to
obtain change-of-address data. If the county elections
official contracts with a consumer credit reporting agency
or its licensees, all of the following shall occur:
For each registered voter in the county, the county
elections official shall initiate a search for
change-of-address data with the consumer credit
reporting agency or its licensees by providing the name
and residence address of each registered voter in the
county to the consumer credit reporting agency or its
licensees.
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The consumer credit reporting agency or its licensees
shall search their databases for each name and address
provided by the county elections official and shall
report to the county elections official any information
indicating that the registered voter changed his or her
residence address.
This bill would require the county elections official that
contracts with a consumer credit reporting agency or its
licensees, based on the change-of-address information
received, to send a specified forwardable notice, including
postage-paid and preaddressed return form, which may be in
the form of a postcard, to the registered voter to enable
the voter to verify or correct address information. The
forwardable notice shall be in substantially the following
form:
"We have received notification that you have moved to a
new residence address in ____ County. You will remain
registered to vote at your old address unless you
notify our office that the address to which this card
was mailed is a change of your permanent residence.
Please notify our office in writing by returning the
attached postage-paid postcard. If this is not a
permanent residence, and you do not wish to change your
address for voting purposes, please disregard this
notice."
This bill further requires, that if the voter responds to
the forwardable notice, or otherwise verifies in a signed
writing his or her new residence address, or to another
residence address in another county, the county elections
official shall verify the signature on the response by
comparing it to the signature on file for the voter and, if
appropriate, correct or cancel the voter's registration.
This bill would delete the provision that authorizes a
county elections official to cancel the voter registration
of a voter who does not offer to vote or vote within a
specified time period, and would also delete the
requirement that a voter be given an opportunity to vote at
a statewide primary or general election between the date of
notice and the beginning of the alternate residency
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procedure. (See comment #4 below.)
This bill would require that the elections official not
place the voter's name on the inactive file of registered
voters or cancel the voter registration of a voter that
does not respond to the forwardable notice as specified,
and does not otherwise verify in a signed writing that he
or she has moved to a new residence address.
This bill makes other conforming changes.
BACKGROUND
What is the National Change of Address Process, and How Do
Counties Use It ? The NCOA process includes a check of a
county's entire voter database for change of address
records maintained by the USPS within the country. Address
changes, if any, are made in the county voter database to
reflect a new address, and the affected voter is sent a
residency confirmation postcard by the elections official
to confirm that the change is correct. Once the signed
postcard confirming the new address is received, and the
signature verified by the elections official, the voter
will continue to receive election materials within that
same county. On the flipside, any voter either not
returning a residency confirmation postcard or whose
postcard is returned as "undeliverable" or having no
forwarding address, would be moved to the inactive voter
file.
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) . The
NVRA prohibits states from cancelling a voter's
registration or removing a voter from the rolls, except in
certain instances, such as death, criminal conviction,
mental incapacity, or at the request of the voter. The
NVRA permits states to use voter residency confirmation
programs using USPS NCOA data that can lead to cancelling a
voter registration, only if all of the following occur:
The official receives NCOA data indicating the
voter has moved;
The official sends the voter a forwardable
postcard asking for an address update;
The voter does not respond to the postcard; and
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The voter does not vote in the next two federal
elections.
COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : Allowing counties to use
credit bureau data in lieu of USPS change-of-address
data will reduce waste and save California counties
millions of dollars in the future, because credit bureau
change-of-address data is simply more up-to-the-minute
and comprehensive than USPS data.
Major credit bureaus are widely considered the most
credible and reliable sources for up-to-date address
data for people living in the United States. This is
because people are far more likely to update their
address with their financial institutions than they are
with the USPS. This bill would give county elections
officials the option of using credit bureau data in lieu
of USPS data to get updated address information on
voters before each election. Under this bill, county
elections officials who choose this option would be
required to:
Release only the names and addresses of each
registered voter to a consumer credit reporting
agency, as defined in Civil Code section 1785.2(d).
Send a forwardable postcard, similar to the current
postcard generated based on NCOA data, to all voters
who appear to have moved based on matching data
received from the credit reporting agency.
Update voter addresses and remove voters who have
moved out of county, only after the voter responds to
the postcard by sending a signed, written confirmation
that the voter has moved and wish to change their
address or be removed from the voter rolls.
The bill prohibits credit bureaus from retaining name
and address data received and permits elections
officials to receive only change-of-address data back
from the credit bureau. No sensitive data, such as
social security number or credit history, is shared in
either direction.
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1. Orange County Report . According to their report,
Orange County has tested and proven the dramatic cost
savings of using credit bureau data. In addition to
complying with current law, the county contracted with
Experian to check the addresses of 250,000 registered
voters and received 122,000 possible new addresses. The
county sent postcards to each of the 122,000 and 18,800
voters responded in writing confirming their move and
asking the county to update their address information.
This saved Orange County over $44,000 in the first
election alone - savings that will grow with each
passing election as the county avoids repeatedly mailing
materials to 18,800 out-of-date addresses. Orange
County's full report on this pilot can be viewed at
www.OCvote.com .
2. DMV Database . Orange County also reported that in
2010, over 56,000 voter records were updated due to
changes reported by the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV). The report noted that, "DMV changes are very
accurate and effective in maintaining the voter
database," as voters are likely to update their address
with the DMV in order to keep their vehicle
registrations or driver's license current. Changes
through the DMV are made and shared with the counties
via the SOS on a daily basis.
3. Technical Clean Up . As mentioned in the background,
the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) permits elections
officials to confirm voter addresses through USPS NCOA
data and cancel a voter's registration if all of the
appropriate steps are followed. The NVRA specifically
prohibits states from canceling a voter's registration
based on a voter's failure to vote. Unfortunately,
California law is inconsistent with federal law. EC
section 2224 permits counties to begin a postcard
mailing process if a voter fails to vote for four years
in a row, which can result in voter cancellations in
violation of the NVRA.
This bill makes technical changes to section 2224 and
section 2226 to ensure that voters will only be placed
on the inactive file (not cancelled) if they don't
respond to a postcard sent because they didn't vote for
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four years. This ensures California law is consistent
with the NVRA.
PRIOR ACTION
(Prior votes do not reflect the current version of this
bill.)
Assembly Higher Education Committee: 8-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 79-0
Senate Education Committee: 9-0
Senate Appropriations Committee 9-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Secretary of State
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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