BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 35 HEARING DATE: 8/30/12
AUTHOR: PADILLA ANALYSIS BY: DARREN CHESIN
AMENDED: 8/23/12
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Voter registration agencies
DESCRIPTION
Existing law , pursuant to the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (NVRA), requires each state to designate
agencies for registration of voters in elections for
federal office including motor vehicle agency offices,
offices that provide public assistance, offices that
provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in
providing services to persons with disabilities, Armed
Forces recruitment offices, and other state and local
offices within the state designated as NVRA voter
registration agencies. States may also designate other
state and local offices as NVRA voter registration
agencies, to include state and local government offices
such as public libraries, public schools, offices of city
and county clerks, fishing and hunting license bureaus,
government revenue offices, unemployment compensation
offices, and offices not described above that provide
services to persons with disabilities and federal and
nongovernmental offices, with the agreement of such
offices.
Existing law also provides for all of the follow:
a. Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
provide the opportunity to register to vote to
individuals who apply for, renew or change an address
for a driver's license or personal identification card
issued by the DMV.
b. Requires all NVRA designated voter registration
agencies to provide the opportunity to register to vote
to persons applying for the agency's assistance or
services, seeking recertification or renewal of those
services, and changing address for the assistance or
services.
c. Requires NVRA designated voter registration agencies to
distribute voter registration forms and NVRA voter
preference forms, assist in filling out the voter
registration form, accept and transmit completed voter
registration forms to county elections officials, and
accept and retain completed preference forms on file for
two years.
d. Requires NVRA designated agencies to provide to each
individual the same degree of assistance in completing
the voter registration application form as is provided
by the office in completing its own agency forms, unless
the applicant declines to register to voter or declines
such assistance. Requires voter registration services
to be provided whether the transaction is conducted in
person or remotely via the internet, the telephone or by
mail.
e. Requires a completed voter registration application
accepted at a voter registration agency to be
transmitted, not later than 10 days after the date of
acceptance, to the appropriate election official.
Requires a voter registration that is accepted within
five days before the last day to register to vote to be
transmitted to the appropriate elections official not
later than five days after the date of acceptance.
f. Requires each state to designate a state officer or
employee as the chief state election official to be
responsible for coordinating the state responsibilities
under the NVRA.
g. Prohibits a person providing the voter registration
services described above from seeking to influence an
applicant's political preference or party registration,
displaying any such political preference or party
allegiance, making any statement to an applicant or
taking any action with the purpose or effect of which is
to discourage the applicant from registering to vote, or
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making any statement or taking any action with the
purpose or effect of which leads to the applicant
believing that a decision to register or not to register
has any bearing on the availability of services or
benefits.
h. Requires NVRA designated voter registration offices
that provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in
providing services to persons with disabilities that
provide services at a person's home to provide the voter
registration services at the person's home.
i. Requires the federal Election Assistance Commission
(EAC) to report to Congress, not later than June 30 of
each odd-numbered year, on the impact of the NVRA during
the preceding two year period and include
recommendations for improvements in federal and state
forms, procedures, and other matters affected by the
NVRA. Authorizes the EAC, in consultation with the
chief elections officials of the states, to prescribe
regulations necessary to implement the above reporting
requirement. Requires states to report various voter
registration information to the EAC that includes, among
other information, the number of voter registration
forms received or generated by mail, and from the DMV,
public assistance offices, offices providing
state-funded programs primarily serving persons with
disabilities, Armed Forces recruitment offices, and
other state designated offices and agencies.
j. Permits the United States Attorney General to bring a
civil action in an appropriate district court for
declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to
carry out the NVRA. Permits a person who is aggrieved
by a violation of the NVRA to bring a civil action in
the appropriate district court for declaratory or
injunctive relief with respect to the violation.
This bill adds the California Health Benefit Exchange to
the list of public assistance agencies required by the NVRA
to provide voter registration opportunities and codifies
various other provisions of the NVRA. Specifically, this
bill:
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a. Defines, for the purposes of this bill, the terms
"voter preference form" and "voter registration agency."
b. Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to adopt
regulations necessary to implement the provisions of
this bill and the federal NVRA.
c. Requires a voter registration agency, with each
application for service or assistance, to provide to an
applicant with a voter preference form and a voter
registration card, unless the applicant declines, and to
assist the applicant in completing the voter
registration card, unless the applicant refuses the
assistance.
d. Requires the SOS to coordinate with county elections
officials and voter registration agencies to implement
this bill, prepare written training materials that
describe the responsibilities of an elections officials
and voter registration agencies pursuant to the
provisions of this bill and the federal NVRA, contact a
voter registration agency if the agency is not complying
with the requirements of this bill and the federal NVRA,
and coordinate with each state agency that evaluates the
performance of an agency designated as a voter
registration agency.
e. Requires a county elections official to provide voter
registration cards to and conduct training for a voter
registration agency upon request of the agency, and to
maintain a record of the number of voter registration
cards provided to and received from each agency.
f. Requires a voter registration agency to designate an
employee to be responsible for the agency's compliance
with requirements of this bill, and to take steps to
ensure that the agency has a sufficient supply of voter
preference forms and voter registration cards available,
as specified. Requires each agency to ensure that each
employee of the agency, who may provide voter
registration services, is trained annually using
materials prepared by the SOS.
g. Requires county elections officials to report to the
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SOS monthly on the number of voter registration cards
received from each voter registration agency, and
requires the SOS to post the information contained in
each report on the SOS's Internet Web site.
h. Requires a voter registration agency that allows a
person to apply online for services or assistance, to
allow an applicant to electronically submit a voter
preference form to the agency, and to submit an
affidavit of voter registration electronically on the
SOS's Internet Web site in accordance with existing
online voter registration provisions of law.
i. Requires a voter registration agency to notify each
person who indicates on a voter preference form that he
or she would like to register to vote of the methods by
which that person may register, as specified.
j. Requires the SOS to take steps to ensure that the
electronic affidavit of voter registration is available,
and may be electronically submitted and verified, in all
languages which a county is required to provide voting
materials pursuant to the federal Voting Rights Act of
1965.
aa.Requires, no later than July 1, 2014, the California
Health Benefit Exchange, and each office or site
thereof, to comply with the online voter registration
requirements of a voter registration agency set forth in
this bill.
BACKGROUND
National Voter Registration Act . The NVRA was enacted by
Congress in 1993 and took effect in 1995. Also known as
the "Motor Voter Act," the enactment of the NVRA was
intended to enhance and increase voting opportunities for
eligible voters to register to vote and maintain their
registration.
In addition to other methods of voter registration states
offer, the NVRA requires states to provide the opportunity
to apply to register to vote for federal elections through
various methods. Section 5 of the NVRA requires states to
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offer voter registration opportunities at motor vehicle
agencies. Additionally, Section 6 of the NVRA requires
states to provide voter registration opportunities by
mail-in application. Finally, Section 7 of the NVRA
requires states to offer voter registration opportunities
at all offices that provide public assistance or
state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing
services to persons with disabilities. Armed Forces
recruitment offices must also provide voter registration
services. Moreover, Section 7 of the NVRA requires a state
to designate "other offices" within the state as voter
registration agencies.
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) NVRA
guidelines, a state is free to determine which other
agencies or offices should be designated, according to its
needs and preferences, but it must make additional
designations.
In California, the following state and local offices are
NVRA voter registration agencies:
DMV
Public assistance agencies (including County Human
Service Agencies)
County offices which accept applications and administer
benefits for CalFresh, formerly known as Food Stamps,
and the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility
to Kids (CalWORKS)
County offices which accept applications and administer
benefits for the Medi-Cal program
Community-based nonprofit organizations under contract
with the Department of Public Health to administer the
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program
State-funded agencies primarily serving persons with
disabilities
Department of Rehabilitation offices offering
vocational rehabilitation services
Independent Living Centers
Department of Development Services Regional Centers
Offices under contract with the Department of Social
Services, Office of Deaf Access to provide services to
the deaf
State and county mental health providers
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Armed Forces Recruitment offices
Franchise Tax Board (FTB) offices offering forms,
instruction, and assistance to the public for income tax
and the Homeowners and Renter Assistance program
Board of Equalization (BOE) offices serving the public.
In addition to expanding opportunities to register to vote,
the NVRA imposes requirements on states to protect the
integrity of the electoral process and ensure that accurate
and current voter registration rolls are maintained.
The California Health Benefit Exchange was created by SB
900 (Alquist and Steinberg), Chapter 659 of 2010, following
the passage of federal health care reform. It is charged
with creating a new insurance marketplace in which
individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase
competitively priced health plans using federal tax
subsidies and credits beginning in 2014. The Exchange is
overseen by a five-member board appointed by the Governor
and Legislature; the California Health and Human Services
Secretary serves as an ex officio voting member and is its
current Chair.
COMMENTS
According to the author , Congress enacted the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993 ('NVRA' or the 'Motor Voter
Act'), to enhance voting opportunities for every American.
The Act has made it easier for all Americans to register to
vote and to maintain their registration by requiring that
individuals be given the opportunity to register to vote or
to change their voter registration data when applying for
or renewing their driver's license.
A lesser known provision of the Motor Voter Act requires
states to provide individuals the opportunity to register
to vote or to change their voter registration data when
applying for, or receiving, services at state public
assistance offices as designated by the state. These
designated agencies are known as Voter Registration
Agencies.
Following the passage of the NVRA, Governor Pete Wilson
designated the minimum number of agencies, two, as voter
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registration agencies as required by the law. Since 1994,
no additional agencies have been designated Voter
Registration Agencies despite California's discretionary
authority to do so. Thus, multiple state agencies in
California, some of which did not even exist in 1994 and
that together process millions of applications for public
benefits each year, have yet to be designated voter
registration agencies.
NVRA Implementation in California . The author states that
following the passage of the NVRA, then-Governor Pete
Wilson designated, as required by the NVRA, two agencies
the FTB and the BOE as NVRA voter registration agencies,
however no additional agencies have been designated since.
While the committee is unaware of any evidence to dispute
this claim, it should be acknowledged that efforts were
made by the current SOS to designate other federal agencies
as NVRA voter registration agencies. As mentioned above,
the NVRA permits a state to designate federal and
nongovernmental offices as NVRA voter registration agencies
as long as the office agrees to the request.
Additionally, under Presidential Executive Order 12926, the
chief elections official of any state is authorized to ask
a federal agency to designate itself as a voter
registration agency and provide voter registration
services. Moreover, the Order requires federal agencies to
accept the designation to the greatest extent practicable
provided that doing so is consistent with the agency's
legal authority and availability of funds. In May of 2008,
the SOS sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs asking the Department to designate itself as a
voter registration agency and begin offering voter
registration services under the NVRA. The U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs initially declined the request,
however, in September of 2008 the decision was reversed and
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs issued a directive
permitting elections officials and non-partisan groups to
provide voter registration services at Veterans Affairs
hospitals and in-patient locations.
Additionally, in September of 2009, the SOS renewed her
request to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and also
sent letters to the U.S. Social Security Administration,
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services asking these
agencies to accept the designation as voter registration
agencies under NVRA and begin offering voter registration
services. According to a representative from the SOS's
office, no response was received from any of the
departments.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-1
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 12-5
Assembly Floor:
POSITIONS
Sponsor: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Support: Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
California State Student Association
CALPRIG
Common Cause
Demos
The Greenlining Institute
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational
Fund (MALDEF)
Peace & Freedom Party of California
Project Vote
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
10 individuals
Oppose: Department of Finance
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