BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 183
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Date of Hearing: July 5, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
SB 183 (Correa) - As Introduced: February 7, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 25-14
SUBJECT : Ballots: identifying information.
SUMMARY : Prohibits a voter from placing personal information,
as defined, on a ballot if the information identifies the voter,
and provides that a ballot that contains personal information is
not invalid. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires ballot instructions to voters to state that marking
the ballot outside of the designated space to vote for a
candidate or measure may compromise the secrecy of the ballot.
2)Prohibits a voter from placing personal information on a
ballot if that information identifies the voter.
3)Deletes a provision that a ballot be rejected if it is marked
in a manner as to identify the voter, and instead requires a
ballot that contains personal information to be separated and
duplicated in the same manner as defective ballots.
4)Provides that a ballot that contains personal information is
not invalid.
5)Defines "personal information" to include all of the
following:
a) The signature of the voter;
b) The initials, name, or address of the voter;
c) A voter identification number;
d) A social security number; and,
e) A driver's license number.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)Prohibits a voter from placing any mark upon a ballot that
will make the ballot identifiable. Requires a ballot to be
rejected if it is marked or signed by the voter so that it can
be identified by others.
2)Provides that any ballot that is torn, bent, or mutilated
shall be segregated in the manner directed by the elections
official and a duplicate shall be prepared.
3)Provides that any ballot marked in a manner as to identify the
voter shall be marked "Void" and placed in a container for
void ballots.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
State-mandated local program; contains reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author: "Under current
law a ballot can be rejected because the voter scribbles on it
to make sure their pen is working. This is unacceptable.
This bill would provide that these extra marks will no longer
render a ballot void and ballots with personal information
will be remade in the same way as damaged ballots?Existing law
was enacted to help prevent voter corruption when ballots were
hand tabulated. In this day and age of automated tabulation,
there is simply no danger that marking a ballot can be part of
a systemic vote-buying scheme that would require a complicit
election official."
2)Instructions : Current law specifies the instructions that are
required to be printed on a ballot for voters. Among other
things, the instructions state, "All distinguishing marks or
erasures are forbidden and make the ballot void." This
statement serves to notify voters that markings on a ballot
may make that ballot invalid. This bill narrows the
prohibition in current law that applies to "any mark upon a
ballot" and focuses specifically on "personal information."
In addition, this bill provides that a ballot that contains
the personal information of a voter shall be duplicated and
counted, instead of being void.
3)Voided Ballots : Given that a voter whose ballot is rejected
because of markings that make the ballot identifiable is not
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notified of the rejection, a voter who may be unaware of the
prohibition on markings could presumably make the same mistake
again only to result in another voided ballot. In Sacramento
County alone, according to the Registrar of Voters, during the
2010 November General Election, 60 ballots had personal
identifying information. Assuming that other counties have a
similar number of identifiable ballots, there is the potential
for a large number of ballots to be voided at each statewide
election, even though the voter filled-out the ballot
correctly. This bill would require an elections official to
duplicate a ballot with personal information in the same
manner as is required under current law for defective ballots,
so that these ballots may be counted, rather than void.
4)Voter Privacy : The California Constitution requires that
voting be secret. However, when a voter writes information on
a ballot that identifies him or herself, that ballot becomes
identifiable and is no longer secret. Under current law,
these ballots are void to ensure that voter privacy is upheld.
Although most ballots are not made public, there is at least
one county, Humboldt County, that scans voted ballots and
posts them on the Internet following an election. This bill
requires identifiable ballots be duplicated and in doing so,
would protect the privacy of the voter, while still allowing
the ballot to be counted.
5)Support if Amended : The California Association of Clerks and
Election Officials (CACEO) have proposed amendments to this
bill to remove the requirement that the elections official
duplicate all ballots with identifiable information, and to
only require the ballot to be duplicated in order to capture
the voter's intent. CACEO argues that amending this bill to
"avoid unnecessary ballot duplication steps saves costs
associated with staff and additional election supplies, as
well as expedites the canvass of the vote and certification of
results."
6)Argument in Support : In support of this bill, Secretary of
State Debra Bowen writes, "This measure will streamline the
election process and ballots will not be disqualified from
being counted simply because a voter inadvertently placed a
random mark on their ballot that did not affect the integrity
of their vote. Implementation costs should be minor due to
the small number of ballots that the bill will impact."
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7)Previous Legislation : This bill is identical to SB 387
(Hancock) of 2009, which was vetoed by the Governor, who
expressed concern that "remaking a ballot that contains
personal identifying information compromises ballot secrecy
and increases the opportunity for fraud."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (if
amended)
California Common Cause
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094