BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                    SB 35|
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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 35
          Author:   Padilla (D)
          Amended:  8/23/12
          Vote:     21

           
          PRIOR SENATE VOTES NOT RELEVANT

           SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS COMMITTEE  :  
            3-2, 8/30/12 (pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10)
          AYES:  Correa, Lieu, Yee
          NOES:  La Malfa, Gaines

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  52-27, 8/27/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Voter registration agencies

          SOURCE  :     American Civil Liberties Union


           DIGEST  :    This bill adds the California Health Benefit 
          Exchange to the list of public assistance agencies required 
          by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to 
          provide voter registration opportunities and codifies 
          various other provisions of the NVRA. 

           Assembly Amendments  delete the Senate version of the bill 
          relating to energy, and replace it with the above language.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law, the federal National Voter 
          Registration Act of 1993, requires each state to establish 
          procedures to register voters by application in person at 
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          certain federal, state, or nongovernmental agencies 
          designated by state law as voter registration agencies.  
          Existing law also requires the Secretary of State (SOS), in 
          consultation with county elections officials, to design and 
          make available on his/her Internet Web site an affidavit of 
          voter registration.  Existing law, the federal NVRA, 
          provides for state departments of motor vehicles to make 
          voter registration information and materials available to 
          an applicant for a driver's license and other vehicular 
          documents.  Existing state law provides that a person who 
          is qualified to register to vote and who has a valid 
          California driver's license or state identification card 
          may submit an affidavit of voter registration 
          electronically on the Internet Web site of the SOS.  
          Existing state law requires the Department of Motor 
          Vehicles and the SOS to develop a process and the 
          infrastructure to allow a person who is qualified to 
          register to vote in the state to register to vote online.

          This bill:

          1. Defines, for the purposes of this bill, the terms "voter 
             preference form" and "voter registration agency." 

          2. Requires the SOS to adopt regulations necessary to 
             implement the provisions of this bill and the federal 
             NVRA. 

          3. 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. 

          4. 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 a 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, 

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             and coordinate with each state agency that evaluates the 
             performance of an agency designated as a voter 
             registration agency. 

          5. 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. 

          6. 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. 

          7. Requires county elections officials to report to the 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. 

          8. 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. 

          9. Requires a voter registration agency to notify each 
             person who indicates on a voter preference form that 
             he/she would like to register to vote of the methods by 
             which that person may register, as specified. 

          10.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 

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             1965. 

          11.Requires the California Health Benefit Exchange, no 
             later than July 1, 2014, to implement a process and the 
             infrastructure to allow a person who applies online for 
             service or assistance to submit an affidavit of voter 
             registration electronically on the Internet Web site of 
             the SOS in accordance with this bill. 

           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 office 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 
          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." 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  Yes

          According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor 
          and absorbable costs to the SOS, county elections offices, 

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          and the California Health Benefit Exchange. 

           SUPPORT :   (Verified  8/26/12)

          American Civil Liberties Union (source)
          Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
          California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
          California Common Cause
          California Public Interest Resource Group
          California State Student Association 
          Demos
          Disability Rights California
          Greenlining Institute
          League of Women Voters
          Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund 
          Project Vote
          San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council
          SEIU California State Council
          South Bay Labor Council
          United Farm Workers 
          Working Partnerships


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 52-27, 08/27/12
          AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, 
            Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, 
            Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, 
            Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, 
            Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger 
            Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. 
            Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, 
            Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, 
            Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, 
            Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, 
            Valadao, Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani


          DLW:m  8/30/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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