BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1724 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1724 (Fong) As Amended May 10, 2012 Majority vote ELECTIONS 5-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall, | | | | |Mendoza, Swanson | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Logue | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Resolves a conflict in existing law that governs the amount of time that a voter can spend in the voting booth, and permits a voter to receive additional time to mark his or her ballot when necessary. Specifically, this bill : 1)Repeals a provision of law that prohibits voters from remaining in or occupying voting booths or compartments longer than five minutes, except under certain circumstances. This provision conflicts with another portion of existing law that prohibits voters from remaining in or occupying voting booths or compartments longer than 10 minutes. 2)Permits any voter who needs more than 10 minutes to complete his or her ballot to inform a precinct board member of that fact and to receive additional time to complete the ballot. Repeals a provision of law that provides that a voter may only be permitted additional time to mark his or her ballot when no other voter would be inconvenienced. Provides that if a precinct board member determines that a voter is attempting to interfere with the conduct of the election and does not require additional time to mark his or her ballot, that precinct board member may contact the elections official, who may order that the voter not be provided with additional time to mark his or her ballot. EXISTING LAW : 1)Prohibits voting booths or compartments from being occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible AB 1724 Page 2 to receive assistance in casting his or her ballot. 2)Prohibits voters from remaining in or occupying the booths or compartments for longer than either five or 10 minutes unless a longer time period will not inconvenience other voters. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "Existing law contains two conflicting provisions that set a limit on the amount of time that a voter can remain in a voting booth or compartment. Section 14224 of the Elections Code provides that a voter may not remain in the voting booth longer than necessary to mark his or her ballot, but the total amount of time shall not exceed ten minutes. Section 19363 of the Elections Code, however, provides that a voter may not remain in the voting booth longer than necessary to mark his or her ballot, but the total amount of time shall not exceed five minutes. These conflicting standards can cause confusion for voters and for poll workers. Furthermore, since Section 19363 is in an area of the Elections Code that governs the use of lever voting machines (machines that are no longer used in this state), that section is obsolete and should be repealed. "Finally, the two existing code sections that establish a limit on how long a person can spend in the voting booth both allow voters to have additional time in the booth, but only if 'no other voter would be inconvenienced.' While many voters are able to complete their ballots in ten minutes, some voters need additional time to make their selections, especially at elections where there are a large number of offices and measures on the ballot. Those voters should be given the opportunity and time that they need to complete their ballots." This bill is similar to AB 686 (Ruskin) of 2009, which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto message, the Governor argued that there was "no evidence that the discrepancy in current law has resulted in a significant problem for voters." In addition, this bill is similar to AB 3014 (Mullin) of 2008, which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, though the Governor did not express any policy objections to that bill. AB 3014 was one of the 136 bills that received the same veto message. That AB 1724 Page 3 veto message is as follows, "The historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year's legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time." Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0003548