BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2054
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 2054 (Fong)
As Amended August 13, 2012
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |47-27|(May 3, 2012) |SENATE: |26-13|(August 20, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |52-28|(August 29, | | | |
| | |2012) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Allows a vote by mail (VBM) voter to return his or her
ballot to any polling place in the state, instead of being
limited to polling places within the jurisdiction of the
elections official who issued the ballot. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Permits a properly cast VBM ballot to be returned in person to
any member of a precinct board at any polling place within the
state, instead of being limited to polling places within the
jurisdiction of the elections official who issued the ballot.
2)Provides that if a VBM ballot is returned to a precinct board
of a polling place located in a county other than the county
from which the ballot was issued, the elections official
responsible for that polling place shall forward the ballot to
the elections official who issued it.
3)Provides that VBM ballots that are forwarded pursuant to this
bill to the jurisdiction of issuance that are not included in
the semifinal official canvass phase of the election shall be
processed and counted during the official canvass.
The Senate amendments add double-jointing language to avoid
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chaptering problems with AB 2080 (Gordon).
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Earlier this year, the
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee and the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee held a joint
oversight hearing to discuss the United States Postal Service
closures and the impact on voters and the upcoming presidential
elections. During the hearing, five county elections officials
testified to the impact that recent post office and processing
facility closures were having on their jurisdictions as well as
the 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 mail delivery
time delays of up to 5-7 days as opposed to the usual 1-3 day
mail delivery time.
"The Postal Service has nine more processing facilities proposed
for closure in California. And while the Postal Service agreed
to a moratorium on closing or consolidating additional post
offices or processing facilities until May 15th, that deadline
has since passed. According to the Postal Service's new
timeline, closures will resume this summer, but will cease from
September through December due to volume of high-priority mail
predicted for the election and holiday mailing seasons.
"Existing law requires a voted vote by mail ballot to be
received by either the elections official who issued the ballot
or the precinct board within that county before the closing of
the polls on election day. The new circumstances surrounding
the elections will present new challenges for voters, especially
those who vote by mail, particularly in light of the increase in
voting by mail. Voters who mail their ballots within a
reasonable timeframe could, through no fault of their own, find
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themselves disenfranchised due to the mail delivery time delays.
"AB 2054 helps protect vote by mail voters by providing them
with the option to drop off their voted ballot to any county
elections official or polling place within the state by the
close of the polls on election day."
SB 199 (Correa) of 2011, which was substantially similar to this
bill, was vetoed by Governor Brown. In his veto message, the
Governor argued that "Ýa]llowing voters to return their
vote-by-mail ballot at any polling location in the state will
add complexity to the voting and election process without
commensurate benefit. California has liberal registration and
vote-by-mail law that are sufficient to allow the timely return
of a vote-by-mail ballot." However, the Governor vetoed this
bill before there was widespread attention and knowledge about
the impacts of the United States Postal Service closures.
The Senate amendments make technical changes to avoid chaptering
problems with AB 2080 (Gordon). This bill, as amended in the
Senate, is consistent with the Assembly actions.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"As I noted when vetoing a similar bill last year, allowing
voters to return their vote-by-mail ballot at any polling
location in the state will add complexity to the voting and
election process without commensurate benefit."
Analysis Prepared by: Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
FN: 0005995
AB 2054
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