BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: AB 131 HEARING DATE: 6/4/13
AUTHOR: WILLIAMS ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Voter registration: affidavits: rebuttable presumptions
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires an affidavit of voter registration to
show the facts necessary to establish an affiant as an
elector.
Existing law requires an affidavit of voter registration to
contain a space for the registrant to provide his or her
state or country of birth.
Existing law provides that if the county elections official
receives an affidavit of registration that does not include
portions of the information for which space is provided,
the county elections official shall apply the following
rebuttable presumptions:
a) If no middle name or initial is shown, it is presumed
that none exists;
b) If no party affiliation is shown, it is presumed that
the affiant has declined to disclose a party preference;
c) If no execution date is shown, it is presumed that the
affidavit was executed on or before the 15th day prior
to the election if the affidavit is received by the
county elections official on or before the 15th day
prior to the election or if the affidavit is postmarked
on or before the 15th day prior to the election and is
received by mail by the county elections official; and,
d) If the affiant fails to identify his or her state of
birth within the United States, it is presumed that the
affiant was born in a state or territory of the United
States if the birthplace of the affiant is shown as
"United States," "U.S.A." or other recognizable term
designating the United States.
This bill provides that a person's failure to identify his
or her place of birth on an affidavit of registration shall
not preclude his or her affidavit from being deemed
complete.
BACKGROUND
Current state law allows county elections officials to
process voter registration applications even when certain
information has not been provided by the applicant. For
example, if no middle name or initial is shown on the voter
registration card, it is presumed that none exists.
However, if an applicant does not list a place of birth,
the law requires county elections officials to contact the
voter before processing the voter registration card.
Election officials are required to accept the federal
registration application which does not require applicants
to identify their place of birth, and both the current
California voter registration affidavit, and the Federal
Voter registration form require that a voter declare under
penalty of perjury that he or she is a citizen of the
United States.
COMMENTS
1. 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. 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. Further, counties have no clear authority to
process incomplete registration cards that omit place of
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birth.
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 affidavit under penalty
of perjury. Additionally, AB 131 protects voting rights
and assists counties with cost savings by removing the
mandate to contact registrants and obtain this
information.
2. Prior Legislation : SB 1434 (Price) of 2010, would have
created a rebuttable presumption, when a person failed
to identify his or her place of birth on an affidavit of
registration, that the person is eligible to vote if he
or she marked the box on the voter registration
affidavit indicating that he or she was a citizen of the
United States. SB 1434 was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, who argued that the most effective
solution would be to simply remove information relating
to place of birth from the state form.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-1
Assembly Floor: 47-23
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Secretary of State
Support: American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), AFL-CIO
California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
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California Common Cause
League of Women Voters of California
Registrar of Voters of Santa Barbara County
Oppose: None received
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