BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1814
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1814 (Eng)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Allen, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Swanson | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Ammiano, Hill, |
| | | |Lara, Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly, Logue |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires each county elections official to report to
the Secretary of State (SOS) regarding the county's compliance
with federal and state laws and regulations related to providing
voters with language assistance. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires every county to submit a report, not later than
August 1, 2015, and not later than August 1 of each
odd-numbered year thereafter, to the SOS describing the
county's plan for compliance with applicable federal and state
laws and regulations related to providing voters with language
assistance. Requires the report to include all of the
following information in its plan:
a) Plans for providing translated facsimile copies of
ballots with ballot measures and ballot instructions
required to be made available at polling places on election
day;
b) The translated signage and ballot materials to be
provided to voters prior to election day and at polling
places;
c) The estimated number of bilingual precinct board members
necessary to meet the language needs of voters with limited
English proficiency and the planned method to recruit a
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sufficient number of bilingual precinct board members;
d) The methodology of assigning bilingual precinct board
members to polling places;
e) A description of the training provided to precinct board
members to educate them about compliance with federal and
state voting rights laws and regulations;
f) Plans for conducting outreach to and education of voters
with limited English proficiency; and,
g) Plans for operating voter hotlines that can adequately
respond to telephone calls from voters with limited English
proficiency.
2)Requires the SOS to issue guidance for a uniform standard
report format that will enable each county to comply with the
requirements of this bill. Requires the SOS to post all
reports required by this bill on his or her Web site not later
than 90 days prior to each statewide election held in an
even-numbered year.
3)Requires the SOS to consult with an advisory body composed of
members from voting rights organizations, elections officials,
and other groups to develop, by January 1, 2016, best
practices that counties can follow to help them comply with
laws protecting the rights of voters with limited English
proficiency. Requires the SOS to make these best practices
available to elections officials in a centralized repository
and post them on his or her official Web site. Requires the
SOS to review the best practices biennially and determine
whether they need to be updated.
4)Provides that any county that is already required under the
federal law to furnish ballots in languages other than English
is not required to post a facsimile ballot in those particular
languages. Requires the SOS, in those counties, to make
determinations and findings, as specified in existing law, as
to whether it is appropriate to post the elections materials
in Spanish or other languages.
5)Allows interested citizens or organizations, in addition to or
instead of providing information to the SOS about the need for
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language assistance in a particular county or precinct, to
provide such information to a local elections official so that
the local elections official may determine whether it is
necessary to post a facsimile ballot at the polling place in a
language other than English.
6)Requires the SOS to make determinations and findings, as
specified in existing law, on whether it is appropriate to
post elections materials in Spanish or other languages at each
election year following an adjustment of Congressional, State
Senatorial, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts
boundary lines, as specified by the California Constitution.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, one-time General Fund (GF) costs of $75,000 to the
SOS in 2015-16 to convene and consult with the advisory body,
and develop and make available the best practices. Costs to
update the report biennially should be absorbable. Assuming
$2,000 per county for the initial report, statewide reimbursable
costs would total about $120,000 in 2014-15 and biennially
thereafter.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Poll monitors deployed by
various organizations have observed poll sites failing to meet
their legal requirements, resulting in voters being unable to
exercise their right to vote. For example, poll sites have been
found to: not provide translated voting materials; not have
bilingual poll workers; not have trained poll workers; and fail
to provide provisional ballots. Without the assistance provided
under voting rights laws, limited English proficient citizens
have difficulty overcoming the barriers they face. AB 1814
strengthens the Secretary of State's ability to monitor the
compliance of elections officials with various voting rights
laws. This monitoring will ensure that election officials have
adequate plans for providing language assistance and incorporate
best practices responding to the needs of limited English
proficient."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
AB 1814
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FN: 0003945