BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1272 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair SB 1272 (Kehoe) - As Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill makes several changes to Elections Code provisions regarding county central political party committee elections, including: 1)Deleting the requirement that county central committee members of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, the American Independent Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party be elected at every statewide direct primary election, and permitting members of these parties to be elected at every presidential primary election. 2)Permitting, in general, committee members of each of the above parties to select its members at any time by holding a caucus or convention or by any other method of selection approved by the committee. (There are variations to this provision specific to each of the parties.) 3)Requiring nomination documents to be available to candidates for membership on a county central committee beginning on the 158th day, rather than the 113th day, prior to the primary election. 4)Deleting the option for one of these parties' central committees, if the number of its candidates does not exceed the number of offices available, to require elections officials to nevertheless print the names of all candidates on the ballot in order to allow for write-in candidates. 5)Makes the bill's provisions severable. FISCAL EFFECT SB 1272 Page 2 Changing central committee elections, through the primary election system, to every four instead of every two years will provide significant savings to counties. (According to a survey conducted by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, in the June 2008 primary election, county central committee/county council costs reported by 20 of the 58 counties totaled $2.8 million statewide.) COMMENTS 1)Background . County central committees of the American Independent, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Republican, and Peace and Freedom parties are elected every two years at statewide direct primary elections. According to the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials (CACEO), a significant proportion of all candidates who file to run for any office are county central committee candidates. For example, in the June 2010 statewide direct primary, for 25 of the 53 counties that provided data, county central committee candidates represented 50% or more of the total number of candidates that filed for office. According to county representatives, many county central committee candidates are first-time candidates and usually less experienced with the process, thus requiring more time and assistance from county elections staff. Additionally, staff time is also spent on, among other tasks, checking signatures and translating and proofing materials for county central committee contests, which typically do not end up on the ballot as there often are fewer candidates than the number of open offices. Unlike other candidates, county central committee candidates do not pay filing fees, and the cost of their elections is completely subsidized by county government. 2)Purpose . According to the author, "This bill reduces county expenses by holding central committee elections every four years - not every two years - during direct presidential primaries. Political parties that need to hold elections more often would retain authority to have as many elections as deemed necessary using by holding elections outside of the state process using internal party means. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 SB 1272 Page 3