BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1814
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1814 (Eng) - As Introduced: February 21, 2012
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:4-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires county elections officials to report to the
Secretary of State (SOS) on their compliance with various state
and federal laws related to providing voters with language
assistance. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the elections official, for any precinct where the
official is required to post translated sample ballots in a
language or languages other than English, to make reasonable
efforts to recruit pollworkers who are fluent in those
languages.
2)Requires every county to submit a report to the Secretary of
State (SOS) within 120 days of the statewide primary election
regarding the county's plan to comply with applicable federal
and state laws and regulations related to providing voters
with language assistance, and within 120 days of the general
election, to submit an update detailing material changes from
the plan submitted before the primary election.
3)Requires the SOS, within 90 days of each statewide election,
to post on the SOS website all reports received pursuant to
(2).
4)Requires the SOS to issue guidance for a uniform standard
report format, and requires a county report to include
specified information regarding the county's plan to protect
the rights of voters with limited English proficiency.
5)Requires the SOS to consult with an advisory body, as
specified, develop a list of best practices for elections
officials to follow in implementing the applicable federal and
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state laws and the SOS's existing training standards for
pollworkers, and make these available to elections officials
from a central repository. The SOS is to review the best
practices annually and update if necessary.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual GF costs of up to $150,000 to the SOS in the first two
years for the equivalent of 1.5 positions to develop the
uniform reporting format, convene and consult with the
advisory body, and develop and make available the best
practices. Costs should be less by the third year.
2)Assuming $4,000 per county for the initial report and
follow-up report, statewide reimbursable costs would total
about $232,000 in the first year. Ongoing costs would be less
than one-half this amount in subsequent election years.
ÝThe governor's proposed 2012-13 budget would continue the
current-year suspension of all six elections-related mandates,
including requirements for counties to allow any voter to
become a permanent vote-by-mail (VBM) voter and to tabulate
VBM ballots by precinct.]
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, poll monitors have observed
poll sites failing to meet legal requirements, resulting in
voters being unable to exercise their right to vote. Barriers
to voting such as complicated voting materials and unfamiliar
voting processes contribute significantly to this problem.
Various poll sites have failed to provide translated voting
materials, bilingual poll workers, trained poll workers, and
provide provisional ballot.
The author intends AB 1814 to improve compliance with state and
federal voting rights law by strengthening the SOS's ability
to monitor election officials to mitigate barriers and
facilitate the ability of limited English-proficient and first
time voters.
2)Standard for Bilingual Precinct Workers . Existing law requires
an elections official to make reasonable efforts to recruit
pollworkers who are fluent in a language if three percent or
more of the voting-age residents in the precinct are fluent in
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that language and lack sufficient skill in English to vote
without assistance. Additionally, existing law requires each
precinct board to post a copy of the ballot in a language
other than English at the polling place if the SOS determines
that the number of residents of voting age in the precinct who
are members of a single language minority and who lack
sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance equals
three percent or more of the voting-age residents in the
precinct.
These two standards are similar, but not identical, which can
lead to confusion and inconsistent application. AB 614
provides a single standard by requiring the county elections
official to make reasonable efforts to recruit pollworkers who
are fluent in a language for a precinct whenever the SOS
determines that the precinct must post a copy of the ballot in
that language.
3)Prior Legislation . In 2011, AB 299 (Eng), a substantially
similar bill, was never heard in the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee. In 2007, AB 614 (Eng), which was also
similar, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who argued
that the bill's reporting requirements were of limited value
in light of the state's limited resources.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081