BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A
2011-2012 Regular Session B
1
4
3
AB 1436 (Feuer) 6
As Amended June 18, 2012
Hearing date: July 3, 2012
Elections Code
MK:dl
VOTER REGISTRATION
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: None
Support: California Labor Federation; Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors; City of Los Angeles; American
Association of University Women
Opposition:None Known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 47 - Noes 26
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE LAW ALLOW AN ELIGIBLE PERSON TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THE
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICIAL AT ANY TIME INCLUDING ON
ELECTION DAY?
PURPOSE
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageB
The purpose of this bill is to allow an eligible 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.
Existing law provides that a person entitled to register to vote
shall be a United States citizen, a resident of California, not
in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and at
least 18 years of age at the time of the next election.
(Elections Code § 2101)
Existing law sets forth the requirements for an affidavit of
registration. (Elections Code § 2102)
Existing law provides that county officials shall accept an
affidavit of registration executed as part of a voter
registration card in the forthcoming election if the affidavit
is executed on or before the 15th day prior to the election.
(Elections Code§ 2107)
This bill 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.
This bill 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.
This bill provides that a conditional voter registration shall
be deemed effective 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
affidavit matches information contained in a database maintained
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageC
by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or the
federal Social Security Administration.
This bill 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, and the
conditional voter registration shall be deemed effective.
This bill provides that conditional voter registration and
provisional voting shall be available at all permanent offices
of the county elections official.
This bill 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 and the information is verified as specified by
this bill.
This bill 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.
This bill 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.
This bill requires an elections official, if a conditional
registration is deemed effective, to include the corresponding
provisional ballot in the official canvass.
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageD
This bill provides that the county elections official may offer
conditional voter registration and provisional voting on
election day at satellite offices of the county elections office
in accordance with procedures set forth in existing law.
This bill 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.
Existing law provides for voting by provisional ballot but
provides that provisional ballots shall not be included in the
semiofficial or official canvass unless the election official
establishes prior to the completion of the canvass that the
claimant has a right to vote or by order of a superior court in
the county. (Elections Code § 14310)
This bill provides further that the provisional ballot shall be
included if it was cast and included in the canvass pursuant to
the provision created by this bill.
Existing law provides that every person is guilty of a wobbler
punishable by imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code
for 16 months or two or three years, or in a county jail not
exceeding one year, who:
Not being entitled to vote at an election, fraudulently
votes or fraudulently attempts to vote at that election.
Being entitled to vote at an election, votes more than
once, attempts to vote more than once, or knowingly hands
in two or more ballots folded together at that election.
Impersonates or attempts to impersonate a voter at an
election.
Existing law provides upon a conviction for any crime punishable
by imprisonment in any jail or prison, in relation to which no
fine is herein prescribed, the court may impose a fine on the
offender not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) in cases of
misdemeanors or ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in cases of
felonies, in addition to the imprisonment prescribed.
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageE
This bill would increase the felony fine to $25,000.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
("ROCA")
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, since
early 2007 it has been the policy of the chair of the Senate
Committee on Public Safety and the Senate President pro Tem to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under
the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which stands for
"Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee
has held measures which create a new felony, expand the scope or
penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increase the
application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the
prison overcrowding crisis by expanding the availability or
length of prison terms (such as extending the statute of
limitations for felonies or constricting statutory parole
standards). In addition, proposed expansions to the
classification of felonies enacted last year by AB 109 (the 2011
Public Safety Realignment) which may be punishable in jail and
not prison (Penal Code section 1170(h)) would be subject to ROCA
because an offender's criminal record could make the offender
ineligible for jail and therefore subject to state prison.
Under these principles, ROCA has been applied as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress towards reducing prison
overcrowding by passing legislation which could increase the
prison population. ROCA will continue until prison overcrowding
is resolved.
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageF
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving
California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject
to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate
circumstances. Design capacity is the number of inmates a
prison can house based on one inmate per cell, single-level
bunks in dormitories, and no beds in places not designed for
housing. Current design capacity in CDCR's 33 institutions is
79,650.
On January 6, 2012, CDCR announced that California had cut
prison overcrowding by more than 11,000 inmates over the last
six months, a reduction largely accomplished by the passage of
Assembly Bill 109. Under the prisoner-reduction order, the
inmate population in California's 33 prisons must be no more
than the following:
167 percent of design capacity by December 27, 2011
(133,016 inmates);
155 percent by June 27, 2012;
147 percent by December 27, 2012; and
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageG
137.5 percent by June 27, 2013.
This bill does aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis
described above under ROCA.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
(More)
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
(More)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageI
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.
2. Registration up Until the Day of Voting
Under existing law a person may only register to vote up to and
including 15 days before the election. This bill creates a
provision that will allow a person to register to vote up until
and including election day. The bill sets up procedures for
accepting registration and provisional ballots under these
circumstances.
3. Expansion of a Felony
Existing law provides that a person who commits voter fraud is
guilty of a wobbler. This bill increases the felony fine from
$10,000 (approximately $38,000 with penalty assessments) to
$25,000 (approximately $95,000 with penalty assessments).<1>
By expanding when a person can register to vote before an
election and creating a new type of "conditional voter
registration" that may take place within 14 days of the
election, this bill expands the existing wobbler and therefore
is subject to the ROCA policy of this Committee.
The author may wish to make the violation of this provision a
misdemeanor, and then there would be no ROCA issue.
4. Elections and Constitutional Amendments
---------------------------
<1> Until the budget year 2002-2003, there was 170% in penalty
assessments applied to every fine, the current penalty
assessments are approximately 280%. (See Penal Code § 1464;
Penal Code § 1465.7; Penal Code § 1465.8 Government Code §
70372; Government Code § 7600.5 Government Code § 76000 et seq;
Government Code § 76104.6)
AB 1436 (Feuer)
PageJ
This bill passed Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments
on June 19, 2012 with a vote of 3-2.
***************