BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 503 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 503 (Block) As Amended May 27, 2011 Majority vote ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |Mendoza, Swanson | |Bradford, Charles | | | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Solorio | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Logue, Valadao |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Permits an elections official, upon the request of a qualified write-in candidate, to hand tally the votes for the write-in candidate, as specified, and to count each ballot if the intent of the voter can be determined. Specifically, this bill : 1)Defines "undervote," for the purposes of this bill, as a ballot on which a voter failed to cast any vote for a specific office or failed to cast the maximum number of votes permitted, as detected by an electronic, mechanical, or other vote-tabulating device. 2)Permits an elections official, after tallying all eligible votes but prior to completion of the official canvass and the issuance of the certified statement of the results, to hand tally undervotes if any of certain specified conditions apply. 3)Permits the elections official to stop the hand tally upon determining that the conditions are no longer applicable or when all of the undervotes for the office have been examined. 4)Permits the elections official, while conducting the hand tally, to count each vote for the office if the intent of the voter can be determined, regardless of whether the voter has complied with the voting instructions. AB 503 Page 2 5)Provides that the ability of the elections official to hand tally undervotes only applies: a) If a request is received within five days of completion of the semi-official canvass from a qualified write-in candidate for an office being voted on in that election for an examination of undervotes; and, b) In an election that was conducted using a voting system in which write-in spaces appear directly below the list of candidates for that office and provide a voting space. 6)Provides that a qualified write-in candidate is not responsible for the costs of a hand tally requested pursuant to this bill. FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 503 ensures that votes for qualified write-in candidates will be counted in certain circumstances if the intent of the voter can be determined, even if the voter did not mark the bubble or similar voting space next to the write-in space on the ballot." The premise for this bill stems out a local race in the City of San Diego during the November 2004 general election. When the official canvass of election results was completed, Donna Frye, a qualified write-in candidate for mayor, showed to have finished second to incumbent mayor Dick Murphy by 2,108 votes. A recount, requested by five media organizations and two Frye supporters, uncovered a total of 5,551 ballots in which a voter wrote-in Frye's name on the ballot in the correct location, but did not darken the oval next to the write-in space. Had those ballots been counted for Frye, she would have won the election by 3,443 votes. However, the Registrar of Voters in San Diego County refused to count those votes, citing state law that requires the oval to be darkened in order for a write-in vote to count. A subsequent lawsuit challenging the registrar's decision was rejected by the court. This bill permits an elections official, upon making a specific finding and at the request of a qualified write-in candidate, to hand tally the votes for the write-in candidate for that office, AB 503 Page 3 and to count each vote for the office if the intent of the voter can be determined, regardless of whether the voter has complied with the voting instructions. Current law allows any person to request a manual recount after the results of an election have been certified. The cost of the manual recount is the responsibility of the requestor, unless the recount changes the outcome of the election. This bill provides that a qualified write-in candidate is not responsible for the costs of the hand tally, regardless of the outcome of the hand tally. However, the circumstances in which this bill would be applicable are limited to situations where the elections official chooses to conduct the hand-tally, as described above, and if the number of undervotes is significant enough to potentially change the outcome. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0000950