BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1357|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1357
Author: Swanson (D)
Amended: 6/2/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/21/11
AYES: Correa, La Malfa, De León, Gaines, Lieu
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/12/11(Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Voter registration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill states the Legislatures intent to
permit, and permits, county elections officials to provide
affidavit of registration forms and voter registration
cards online, as specified, provided the form is posted
online on or before January 1, 2012, and that the affidavit
meets specified requirements. This bill requires the
Secretary of State, in consultation with county elections
officials, to make available online an affidavit of
registration, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law declares the intent of the
Legislature that voter registration be maintained at a high
level. Existing law requires the Secretary of State (SOS)
to adopt regulations to prescribe a form of the affidavit
of registration, and requires the affidavit to contain
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specific information. Existing law requires the affidavit
of registration be included on one portion of a multipart
card, to be known as a voter registration card, the other
portions of which shall include information sufficient to
facilitate completion and mailing of the affidavit.
Existing law requires the county elections official to
provide voter registration cards for the registration of
voters at his/her office and in a sufficient number of
locations throughout the county for the convenience of
persons desiring to register, to the end that registration
be maintained at a high level.
This bill declares the intent of the Legislature that
county elections officials be permitted to distribute
affidavits of registration and voter registration cards, in
all languages required under the federal Voting Rights Act
of 1965, by using the county's Internet Web site.
This bill provides that nothing shall prevent the lawful
use of a paper affidavit of registration form provided on a
county's Internet Web site, provided that it is in a form
prescribed by the SOS and meets specific requirements in
current law that govern affidavits of registration.
This bill requires voter registration cards provided by the
county elections official at his/her office and in
locations throughout the county to be available in all
languages required under the federal Voting Rights Act of
1965.
This bill permits the county elections official, in
addition to providing voter registration cards in his/her
office and in locations throughout the county, to provide
forms on the county's Internet Web site, provided that the
county offered the form on the county's Internet Web site
on or before January 1, 2012 and the affidavit meets the
specific requirements in current law, until the SOS makes
affidavits of registration available.
This bill requires the SOS in consultation with county
elections officials, to design and make available on
his/her Internet Web site an affidavit of registration.
The affidavit shall contain information specified in
current law that govern affidavits of registration and in
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addition shall:
1. Be numbered according to regulations adopted by the SOS.
2. Contain, in a type size that is clearly distinguishable
from surrounding text, a statement identical or
substantially similar to the following: "Certain voters
facing life-threatening situations may qualify for
confidential voter status. For more information, please
contact the Secretary of State's Safe At Home program or
visit the Secretary of State's Web site."
3. Contain, in a type size that is clearly distinguishable
from surrounding text, a statement that the use of voter
registration information for commercial purposes is a
misdemeanor pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2194,
and any suspected misuse shall be reported to the SOS.
4. Contain a toll-free fraud hotline telephone number
maintained by the Secretary of State that the public may
use to report suspected fraudulent activity concerning
misuse of voter registration information.
5. Be returnable to the county elections official.
This bill requires that affidavits of registration provided
on the Internet
Web site of a county or of the SOS be for individual use
only and not for use by organizations seeking to register
people to vote.
This bill provides in addition to providing voter
registration cards in his/her office, the county elections
official may provide cards on the county's Internet Web
site for voters to print, complete, sign, and return to the
county elections office.
This bill requires all cards provided online to be
available in all languages required under the federal
Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This bill makes other conforming changes.
Background
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Current Use of Online Forms . The SOS currently provides
voter registration forms on her Internet Web site; however,
that form is a federal voter registration form, which does
not contain much of the information contained on the state
voter registration form, which is helpful for county data
collection.
Current law prescribes the paper size, weight, and color of
voter registration forms, which precludes online forms from
being accepted. Some counties currently provide state
voter registration forms online; however, because current
law does not explicitly authorize the use of online forms,
many counties have been hesitant to provide this means of
voter registration.
Comments
According to the author, this bill is an important cost
saving measure that will allow the creation and use of
online voter registration Ýforms] in California.
Currently, California uses the federal online voter
registration form but it is missing critical information
that is required by California Elections Code. There will
be cost savings since election officials will not have to
follow-up with the voter to complete the information
required under California law. Also, since many voters
have been using the incomplete federal form, it will help
election officials process the voter's affidavit timely,
especially critical during the 15-day closing period.
In 2010 Sacramento County received 5,856 new registrations
on federal forms. These forms must be hand entered into
the system, which doubles the processing time compared to
the state form.
The registering voter will still have to print, complete,
and mail the form as current law requires.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/22/11)
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California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
Secretary of State
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/12/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Cedillo, Conway, Garrick, Gorell,
Roger Hernández, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mitchell, Portantino,
Torres
DLW:kc 6/22/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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