BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 397
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Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 397 (Yee) - As Amended: August 15, 2011
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires that the option for online voter registration
be made available prior to completion of a statewide voter
registration database, if certain conditions are met.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Allows for online voter registration effective on the date
that either of the following occurs:
a) The Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that the state
has a statewide voter registration database compliant with
the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), as already
required under current state law, or,
b) The SOS executes a declaration stating that the
following have occurred:
i) Federal approval has been received to use HAVA or
other federal funding to provide online voter
registration in advance of deploying the statewide voter
registration database.
ii) The DMV and the SOS have developed the process and
infrastructure necessary to implement online voter
registration.
iii) All county elections management systems are capable
of receiving and storing electronic voter registration
information received from the SOS.
2)Exempts the SOS, for the system to be developed under (1)(b),
from information technology project administrative approvals
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in order to expedite the availability of online voter
registration.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs of around $250,000 to the DMV, and one-time
costs of $150,000 and ongoing costs of $40,000 to the SOS to
develop and maintain online voter registration capability
prior to implementation of the statewide voter registration
database. Per the bill's requirements, these costs would have
to be covered by federal funds.
2)To the extent this bill results in the availability of online
voter registration sooner than the expected completion of the
statewide voter registration database, and significant numbers
of registrants use this option, the SOS, DMV, and counties
will more quickly realize significant and ongoing savings from
reduced paper processing of voter registrations.
COMMENTS
1)Background . SB 381 (Calderon)/Chapter 613 of 2008 allow a
person to register to vote on the SOS's website if he or she
has a valid California driver's license or state
identification card. This capability will not become operative
until the statewide voter registration database (VoteCal) has
been deployed. At the time SB 381 was being considered, the
VoteCal system was expected to be deployed by 2010. However,
since that time, delays in the procurement process pushed back
the estimated completion date for the VoteCal system.
Specifically, the state entered into a contract to develop the
system in 2009, but terminated that contract in May 2010 due
to concerns about the contractor's ability to successfully
complete the project. A new VoteCal contract is expected to be
awarded next year, and the system is expected to be
operational in 2015.
2)Purpose . SB 397 is intended to allow online voter registration
to commence prior to the delayed completion of VoteCal,
provided the state receives federal funding to develop this
capability and all county election management systems are
compatible with the state system.
Online voter registration is expected to provide significant
savings to the state and to counties due to reductions in
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printing, processing, and data input from paper voter
registration forms. Additionally, online voter registration
is expected to improve the accuracy of the voter registration
rolls by cutting down on data entry errors and errors that
occur due to illegible voter registration forms, while making
voter registration more convenient for many voters.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081