BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 131 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 131 (Williams) As Introduced January 15, 2013 Majority vote ELECTIONS 5-1 -------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta, | | |Hall, Perea | | | | |-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Donnelly | | | | -------------------------------- SUMMARY : Provides that a person's failure to identify his or her place of birth on an affidavit of registration shall not preclude the affidavit from being deemed complete. FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "County election officials must engage in the time consuming practice of contacting potential voters when a piece of information is missing from a voter registration form. While all information requested of potential voters is important, a person's place of birth is not used to confirm his or her eligibility to vote. Further, counties have no clear authority to process incomplete registration cards that omit place of birth. "This measure will save county clerks valuable time and resources by making it optional to answer a registration form question that is not required by the federal government or by 39 other states. Further, the question of place of birth is duplicative in nature because it is not utilized to verify eligibility. The eligibility of the potential voter is verified in the signature box under penalty of perjury. "AB 131 clarifies that if a registrant fails to identify his or her place of birth, it is presumed that he or she is eligible to register to vote as long as he or she marked the box stating that he or she is a citizen of the United States and signs the AB 131 Page 2 affidavit under penalty of perjury. "As a result, AB 131 protects voting rights and assists counties with cost savings by removing the mandate to contact registrants and obtain this information." The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-31), also known as "Motor Voter," requires every state to accept a uniform federal voter registration application by mail, among other provisions. Under Motor Voter, the federal voter registration application may require only such identifying information and other information as is necessary to enable the appropriate election official to assess the eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter registration and other parts of the election process. As a result, the federal voter registration application, which is accepted for voter registration in California pursuant to federal law, does not request information about the applicant's place of birth. Because the uniform federal voter registration application does not contain a space for the applicant's place of birth, any Californian who registers to vote using that form will have his or her registration processed even though he or she has not specified his or her place of birth on the voter registration application. On the other hand, any voter who attempts to register using the state's voter registration affidavit and who leaves the space for "place of birth" blank does not have his or her registration processed unless the county elections official is able to contact that voter and obtain that information from the voter. Analysis Prepared by : Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0000047