BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 867
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 4, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                AB 867 (Swanson) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill allows a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot to be picked up or 
          dropped off by any authorized representative of the VBM voter. 
          Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Allows a VBM voter to designate in writing an authorized 
            person who is 16 years of age or older to deliver or receive a 
            VBM ballot on his or her behalf.

          2)Defines an "authorized representative" as a person who is 
            designated in writing by a voter to the elections official to 
            receive, return for the purposes of this bill, or both receive 
            and return, the voter's VBM ballot.

          3)Prohibits an authorized representative from being a candidate, 
            the spouse of a candidate, or a paid or volunteer worker of 
            campaign-related committee, political party, or any other 
            group or organization at whose behest the individual 
            designated to receive the ballot and/or return the ballot is 
            performing a service. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor reimbursable costs.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  Current law limits the people who may pick up or 
            drop off a ballot for a VBM voter, generally restricting such 
            activities to immediate family members or people living in the 
            same household as the VBM voter.  Additionally, existing law 
            requires a VBM voter to return his or her own ballot, unless 








                                                                  AB 867
                                                                  Page  2

            he or she is ill or physically disabled.  This bill would 
            allow a voter to authorize almost any person, with the general 
            exception of campaign workers, to pick up or drop-off their 
            ballot, provided such authorization is in writing.  By 
            expanding the list of individuals who may be authorized to 
            drop off and pick up ballots, this bill is intended to give 
            voters more options in obtaining and returning ballots, while 
            simplifying enforcement of the law for elections officials. 
            The bill is sponsored by the Secretary of State and supported 
            by the California Association of Clerks and Elections 
            Officials. 

           2)Prior Legislation  . This bill is almost identical to AB 1271 
            (Krekorian) of 2009, which was vetoed by Governor 
            Schwarzenegger, who argued that "while some vote by mail 
            voters could benefit from the added flexibility" provided by 
            the bill, "it would leave the door open for bad actors to 
            abuse the system."
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081