BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1436
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 27, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1436 (Feuer) - As Amended: March 20, 2012
SUBJECT : Voter registration.
SUMMARY : Allows a person to register to vote and vote at the
office of the county elections official at any time, including
on election day, if certain requirements are met. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Defines "conditional voter registration" as a properly
executed affidavit of registration which is delivered by the
registrant to the county elections official during the 14 days
immediately preceding an election or on election day and which
may be deemed effective after the elections official processes
the affidavit, determines the registrant's eligibility to
register, and validates the registrant's information.
2)Permits an elector who is otherwise qualified to register to
vote, in addition to existing methods of voter registration,
to complete a conditional voter registration and cast a
provisional ballot during the 14 days immediately preceding an
election or on election day.
3)Provides that a conditional voter registration is effective
only if the county elections official is able to determine
before or during the canvass period for the election that the
registrant is eligible to register to vote and that the
information provided by the registrant on the registration
matches information contained in a database maintained by the
California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or other state
government agency, or the federal Social Security
Administration.
4)Provides that if the information provided by the registrant on
the registration affidavit cannot be verified by the databases
described above, but the registrant is otherwise eligible to
vote, the registrant shall be issued a unique identification
number in accordance with existing law.
5)Provides that conditional voter registration shall be
available at all permanent offices of the county elections
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official.
6)Requires an elections official to notify registrants that a
conditional voter registration will be effective only if the
registrant is determined to be eligible to register to vote
for the election as specified by this bill.
7)Requires an elections official to conduct the receipt and
handling of each conditional voter registration and offer and
receive a corresponding provisional ballot in a manner that
protects the secrecy of the ballot and allows the elections
official to process the registration, determine the
registrant's eligibility to register, and validate the
registrant's information before counting or rejecting the
corresponding provisional ballot.
8)Requires an elections official, after receiving a conditional
voter registration, to process the registration, determine the
registrant's eligibility to register and attempt to validate
the information.
9)Requires an elections official, if a conditional registration
is deemed effective, to include the corresponding provisional
ballot in the official canvass.
10)Provides that if a conditional voter registration is not
deemed effective, the elections official shall process the
affidavit of registration in the same way that an affidavit of
voter registration would otherwise be processed pursuant to
existing law. Provides that if a registrant meets all other
eligibility requirements to register to vote, the registration
shall be deemed effective in forthcoming elections.
11)Permits the county elections official to offer conditional
voter registration and provisional voting, pursuant to this
bill, on election day at satellite offices of the county
elections office in accordance with the procedures in this
bill.
12)Requires a conditional registration that is accepted pursuant
to this bill to be processed in accordance with the general
voter registration procedures established in existing law and
by regulations adopted by the Secretary of State (SOS).
13)Requires a provisional ballot cast, pursuant to this bill, to
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be subject to provisional ballot requirements within existing
law.
14)Requires elections officials to cancel any duplicate voter
registrations that may exist as a result of a conditional
registration.
15)Requires an elections official, if it appears that a
registrant may have committed fraud, to notify in writing both
the district attorney and the SOS.
16)Increases the fine that may be imposed for a felony
conviction of an election crime, for which no other penalty is
prescribed by law, from $10,000 to $25,000.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows individuals who are eligible to vote to execute an
affidavit of voter registration up to 15 days prior to an
election.
2)Specifies that in order to be eligible to vote, an individual
must be a United States citizen, a resident of California, not
in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, not
deemed mentally incompetent, and at least 18 years of age at
the time of the next election.
3)Provides that a voter claiming to be properly registered but
whose qualification or entitlement to vote cannot be
immediately established upon review of the index of
registration for the precinct or upon examination of the
records on file with the county elections official, shall be
entitled to vote a provisional ballot.
4)Provides that if an applicant for voter registration has not
been issued a current and valid driver's license or a social
security number, the state shall assign the applicant a number
that will serve to identify the applicant for voter
registration purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
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1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Citizen participation in elections is the bedrock of our
representative democracy. Yet, in California, voter
participation has fallen to troubling levels. In the
November 2010 general election just 44.1% of eligible
voters cast a vote. Fortunately there is more that we can
do to promote increased participation, thus ensuring that
election results reflect the will of the people to the
greatest extent possible. Currently, individuals who are
eligible to vote must submit a voter affidavit at least 15
days prior to an election. Unfortunately, the registration
deadline hinders voter participation. This is illustrated
by the ten states that allow some form of same-day
registration and voting. All but one have higher voter
participation rates than California-where only 44.1% of
eligible voters participated in the 2010 general election.
In comparison, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota had respective
rates of 50.0%, 52.1%, and 55.4% in the 2010 general
election. Research also shows that same-day registration
and voting lead to increased participation. North Carolina
implemented same-day voter registration in 2007 and saw an
8% increase in voter turnout during the 2008 presidential
election compared to the 2004 presidential election.
AB 1436 addresses California's low voter participation rate
through the creation of a conditional voter registration
process, which would provide same-day registration and
voting. Beginning 14 days prior to an election and
including Election Day, a county elections office
headquarters would offer conditional voter registration.
This should lead to greater voter participation rates,
which will provide election results that more fully reflect
the will of the people. Aside from benefitting first-time
voters, this bill will also benefit those who have outdated
registration.
California counties vary greatly in geographic expanse and
population. This can have the effect of limiting access to
a county elections office headquarters. To increase the
accessibility of same-day registration and voting, AB 1436
authorizes counties to offer same-day registration and
voting at other sites in addition to the central
headquarters.
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2)Election Day Registration : The concept of "same day"
registration and voting raises a number of issues that the
committee may wish to consider. Implementing procedures to
direct voters to the elections official's office are important
to the success of same day voting. In addition, elections
officials will need to make preparations to serve a
significantly larger number of voters in their offices on
election day. For instance, in Los Angeles County, if even
one-half of one percent of the eligible voters in the county
attempted to register to vote and vote in the office of the
elections official on election day, the office would have to
process nearly 30,000 voters. Ensuring that elections
officials' offices have sufficient parking, voting equipment,
personnel, and ballots to handle the crowds on election day
could pose a significant challenge for many counties.
3)Delayed Canvass : Under existing law, at all elections, a
voter claiming to be properly registered but whose
qualifications to vote cannot be immediately established upon
review of the precinct voter index or records on file with the
county elections official, is entitled to vote a provisional
ballot. Current law requires the elections official to
compare the signature on the ballot with the signature on the
voter's affidavit of registration. If the signatures do not
match or the provisional ballot is not signed, the ballot is
rejected. This bill, which allows a person to register and
vote a provisional ballot on election day, adds a new
time-consuming step to an already busy time period for the
county elections officials. While this may not delay the
canvass for many smaller counties that usually have no
difficulty completing the official canvass of ballots by the
deadline, larger counties, such as Los Angeles, that
frequently take the full amount of time available to certify
elections results, will likely be significantly impacted.
Additionally, it is unclear how long it will take to verify a
voter's information through the various databases. Does this
verification occur in real time? Or does it take 1-2 days?
Again, as stated above, this bill could hinder the ability of
a number of counties to certify election results by the
deadline established under existing law.
4)Postal Delays : Earlier this month, this committee held a joint
oversight hearing with the Senate Elections and Constitutional
Amendments Committee on the recent and proposed United States
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Postal Service closures and the impact on voters and the
upcoming presidential elections. At the hearing, five county
elections officials testified as to the impact that recent
post office and processing facilities closures were having on
them as well as any anticipated challenges they saw ahead with
more closures expected. One of the major impacts affecting
the counties is mail delivery time delays - some counties
experienced delivery times of up to 5-7 days as opposed to
usual 1-3 day mail delivery time. The Postal Service has 15
more processing facilities proposed for closure in California.
While the Postal Service agreed to a moratorium on closing or
consolidating additional post offices or processing facilities
until May 15th, the Postal Service declined to participate in
the hearing so the committee does not have a timeline for
facility closures after the moratorium expires.
The new circumstances surrounding the elections this year
present new challenges - particularly for those registering
and voting by mail. Current law allows a person to register
up until 15 days before an election and allows the affidavit,
if it is postmarked on or before the 15th day before the
election, to be processed as long as all other eligibility
requirements are met. Through no fault of their own, mail
delivery delays could significantly impact a voter's ability
to register in time to vote for an election.
While this bill has no urgency clause and will not be in place
to provide voters with another voting option for this year's
elections, the committee may wish to explore whether this bill
will be helpful to voters in future elections in light of the
proposed Postal Service closures.
5)Other Potential Impacts in California : According to a study
conducted in 2011 by Dmos, a public policy research and
advocacy organization that often advocates for election day
registration, enacting election day registration in California
could increase overall turnout by 4.8%, with larger increases
in participation by voters aged 18 t6)o 25, by voters who had
moved in the last six months, and by Latinos and
newly-naturalized citizens. The Dmos study, however, was based
on the assumption that voters would be allowed to register to
vote on election day at the polling place. The study
additionally notes that an election day voter registration
system that requires voters "to engage in excessive travel on
election day is not likely to facilitate as many voters
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utilizing it as would a system allowing voters to simply
register and vote at their local polling place."
7)Other States : In all, 10 states and the District of Columbia
have some form of election day voter registration. Idaho,
Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin,
Wyoming and Washington DC generally permit election day voter
registration at most or all elections, while Connecticut and
Rhode Island permit election day voter registration for
Presidential elections only. Six of these states (Idaho, Iowa,
Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) and
Washington DC allow election day voter registration at the
polling place, while the other four states (Connecticut,
Maine, Montana, and Rhode Island) do not provide election day
registration at all polling places, and may require voters to
go to another specified location (often the office of the
local elections official) to register to vote on election day.
In June of last year, Maine's Governor signed a bill to
eliminate election day voter registration in that state.
Groups that opposed the bill successfully collected enough
signatures to place a referendum on last November's election
ballot to overturn the law. The referendum ultimately was
successful, and election day registration was restored in
Maine.
North Carolina permits "one-stop voting," whereby a person can
register to vote and immediately cast a ballot at certain
designated locations after the regular voter registration
deadline. However, North Carolina technically does not have
election day registration, because "one-stop voting" ends
three days before the election.
North Dakota has no voter registration requirement at all.
8)Proposition 52 : In November 2002, voters rejected Proposition
52, which would have allowed any eligible person with proper
identification and proof of residency to register to vote at
any polling place on election day. The measure failed,
garnering 40.9 percent of the vote statewide.
9)Arguments in Support : According to the California State
Council of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU):
SEIU firmly believes that giving eligible voters the
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ability to register to vote, and vote on Election Day is
fundamental to his or her inherent right of participation
in the democratic electoral process. Many otherwise
eligible voters have been disenfranchised due to the
current cumbersome process of voter registration, as well
as understanding the deadlines of when he or she must be
registered to vote to participate in a given election. As
California is ranked 41st in state voter turnout, Election
Day registration can considerably boost voter turnout.
10)Arguments in Opposition : The California State Association of
Counties (CSAC) has taken an oppose unless amended position on
the bill. CSAC proposes the bill be amended to provide an
appropriation to pay the costs of election day registration
from the beginning or alternatively, make election day
registration optional, authorizing counties where it is a
local priority to use their own revenues to fund the service.
Additionally, CSAC writes:
The most populous counties in the state already struggle to
certify their votes by the end of the 28-day canvass
period. AB 1436 would add significantly to that struggle.
Not only would election offices need to meet all of the
current certification and audit requirements, they would
also need to process large number of voter registration
forms and provisional ballots. Verifying and county
provisional ballots are by far the most time-consuming
processes that county registrars undertake during the
canvass; AB 1436 would increase the number of provisional
ballots by multiples, adding tremendous costs.
The costs counties would incur complying with this
requirement are difficult to overstate. The proposed law
would increase election departments' workloads by, first,
all the provisional ballots from voters that would not
otherwise have registered, but, more importantly, by the
provisional ballots from all of the voters that would have
otherwise met the 14-day deadline but wait longer given the
opportunity.
To process the enormous increase in provisional ballots,
elections departments in counties that already barely meet
the 28-day canvass deadline will have to hire significantly
more temporary workers, all of whom must be trained in the
minutiae of election law to protect the integrity of the
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election and to ensure every eligible voter is properly
counted. Furthermore, in large counties, the elections
office building would prove insufficient to handle the
surge of registrants and counting provisional ballots, so
they would have to lease large space elsewhere.
11)State Mandates : The 2011-2012 state budget included the
suspension of various state mandates as a mechanism for cost
savings. Included on the list of suspensions were all six
existing elections-related mandates. All the existing
elections-related mandates have been proposed for suspension
again by the Governor in his budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal
year. The Committee may wish to consider whether it is
desirable to create new election mandates when current
elections-related mandates are suspended.
12)Previous Legislation : SB 641 (Calderon) of 2011, which is
substantially similar to this bill, was held on the suspense
file of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SB 641 would
have established conditional voter registration, thereby
allowing a person to register to vote and voter at the office
of a county elections official at any time, including election
day, if certain requirements were met.
SB 1140 (Yee) and AB 1531 (Portantino) of 2010 were similar to
this bill. Both bills would have created a one-stop mechanism
for a person to register to vote and vote at the office of
county elections official at any time up to and including
election day once the state had deployed a new statewide voter
registration database. SB 1140 was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file, and AB 1531 was held
on the Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AARP
America Civil Liberties Union of California
California Common Cause. In its letter of support, the
California Common Cause indicated that the following groups are
also in support of this bill:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Asian Law Caucus
Backbone Campaign
California Church Impact (c4)
California Civil Rights Coalition
California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
California League of United Latin American Citizens
California Participation Project
California Partnership
CALPIRG
Causa Justa:: Just Cause
Center for Voting and Democracy DC
CLUE-Los Angeles
Courage Campaign
CREDO
Democracy for America
Democrats of North Orange County
DEMOS
Empower San Diego
Energy Action Coalition
Equal Justice Society
Equal Rights Advocates
Fair Elections Legal Network
Greenlining Institute
GROW | Planetpov.com
Inland Valley Democratic Club
Korean Resource Center
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Lawyers Guild of San Francisco
PowerPAC
Progressive States Action
Robert F. Kennedy Democratic Club
Rock the Vote
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SW Voter Registration Education Project
The Advancement Project
Voto Latino
California Communities United Institute
California National Organization for Women
City of Los Angeles
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
League of Women Voters of California
Service Employees International Union, California State Council
University of California Student Association
Opposition
California State Association of Counties (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094