BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 293
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 293 (Hill)
As Introduced February 9, 2011
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-1
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|Ayes:|Fong, Logue, Bonilla, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Hall, Mendoza, Swanson, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Valadao | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hill, Lara, Mitchell, |
| | | |Nielsen, Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to establish a free
access system that allows a vote by mail (VBM) voter to find out
whether his or her ballot was counted and, if not, the reason
why the ballot was not counted.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Outlines procedures for voting by mail and establishes
requirements for elections officials to compare the signature
on a VBM ballot envelope with that appearing on the affidavit
of registration. Provides that if the ballot is rejected
because the signatures do not compare, the envelope shall not
be opened and the ballot shall not be counted. Requires the
cause of the rejection to be written on the face of the
identification envelope.
2)Requires elections officials to establish procedures to track
and confirm the receipt of VBM ballots and to make this
information available by means of online access using the
county's elections division Internet Web site. Provides that
if the county does not have an elections division Internet Web
site, the elections official shall establish a toll-free
telephone number that may be used to confirm the date a voted
VBM ballot was received.
AB 293
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3)Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to establish a free
access system to allow any voter who casts a provisional
ballot to discover whether his or her provisional ballot was
counted and, if not, the reason why it was not counted.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, given that similar notifications are already required
for provisional ballots and that VBM voters may already obtain
information regarding whether their ballots was received, any
additional reimbursable costs to comply with this bill's
provision should be minor.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 293 seeks to provide the
ever increasing number of vote-by-mail voters the opportunity to
determine if their ballot was counted and, if not, the reason it
was rejected?As greater and greater numbers of California voters
utilize and rely upon vote-by-mail ballots to have their voices
heard in elections, transparency in the process and
piece-of-mind that their ballot was included are more important
than ever."
Historically, there have been two primary reasons why a VBM
ballot that was completed and returned to the elections
officials may not be counted. One of the most common reasons is
that many ballots are received by the elections office after
Election Day, and state law requires that VBM ballots be
received by the close of polls on Election Day in order to be
counted. A voter who was under the mistaken impression that his
or her ballot would be counted as long as the envelope was
postmarked by Election Day could repeatedly have his or her
ballot not counted, if that voter regularly waited until
Election Day to put the VBM ballot in the mail.
The other primary reason why a VBM ballot might not be counted
is that the signature on the identification envelope does not
match the one on the voter's affidavit of registration. Illness
and age can be factors that contribute to a signature changing
over time. For example, many older voters do not realize that
the signature on file with the registrar of voters no longer
matches their current signature, and as a result, their VBM
ballot may not be counted. This bill provides a mechanism for
voters to verify if their ballot has been counted and, if not, a
reason why it was not counted. Voters whose ballots were not
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counted would be able to take appropriate steps to ensure their
VBM ballots are counted in the future.
Since the passage of AB 1520 (Shelley), Chapter 922, Statutes of
2001, which allowed any voter to become a permanent VBM voter,
the number of voters choosing to vote using a VBM ballot has
increased significantly. In the 2000 General Election, 24.5% of
votes cast were VBM ballots, compared to 41.6% in the 2008
General Election, and 59.6% in the 2010 General Election. These
trends suggest that the number of voters opting to vote by VBM
ballot will continue to increase in the future.
In 2002, the federal government passed the Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) of 2002 (116 STAT. 1666, Public Law 107-252), which,
among other things, required every state to implement a single,
computerized statewide voter registration list. The SOS has
begun the procurement process for the implementation of
California's statewide database, to be known as VoteCal, as
required under HAVA. Once VoteCal is fully deployed, it will
include a feature to allow a VBM voter to track the status of
their VBM ballot and verify whether or not it was counted, and
if not, the reason why it was not counted.
AB 2616 (Hill) of 2010, which was substantially similar to this
bill, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who wrote in his
veto message; "I cannot support mandating additional costs in
this time of fiscal crisis. Nothing in current law prohibits
county elections officials from providing this information and I
would encourage them to do so as resources allow."
Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000195