BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 149
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
Counsel: Shaun Naidu
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 149 (Weber) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
SUMMARY : Provides voting rights guides and voter registration
affidavits to incarcerated or formerly incarcerated persons as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings that many people with criminal
convictions are unaware that they may be eligible to vote and
that it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage parole
officers, probation officers, and county jails to provide
voter eligibility information and voter registration
affidavits to eligible voters.
2)Requires each county jail to provide the most recent version
of the Secretary of State's (SOS) voting rights guide for
incarcerated person to each inmate, and at the request of an
inmate who is an eligible voter, a voter registration
affidavit.
3)Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to
provide the most recent version of the SOS's voting rights
guide for incarcerated persons and a voter registration
affidavit to every parolee upon the completion of his or her
parole.
4)Requires each county probation department to provide the most
recent version of the SOS's voting rights guide for
incarcerated persons to every person under the department's
supervision, and at the request of a probationer who is an
eligible voter, a voter registration affidavit.
5)Requires county jails and state prisons to obtain voter
registration affidavits from county election officials and the
voting rights guide from the SOS.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 149
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1)Requires the Legislature to provide for the disqualification
of electors while mentally incompetent or imprisoned or on
parole for the conviction of a felony. (Cal. Const., Article
II, Section 4.)
2)Requires that a person be a U.S. citizen, California resident,
not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and
at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election to
be entitled to register to vote in this state. (Elections
Code Section 2101.)
3)Requires the facility administrator of a local detention
facility to develop written policies and procedures whereby
the county registrar of voters allows qualified voters to vote
in local, state, and federal elections, pursuant to election
codes. (Cal. Code of Regulations, Title 15, Section 1071.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, " AB 149 would
ensure that persons involved in the criminal justice system
are given accurate information about their voting rights and
are afforded the opportunity to participate in the civic life
of their communities by requiring: (1) that the Department of
Corrections provide every parolee voter registration
information upon the completion of their parole; (2) that
county probation departments provide every person under their
supervision with voter registration information; and (3) that
county sheriffs provide voter registration information to
every inmate of a county jail.
"As of 2010, California ranked 45th in the nation in voter
registration. In the 2012 presidential election, less than
50% of eligible voters in California cast a ballot. Presently,
nearly 6 million eligible voters in the state remain
unregistered to vote.
"Additionally, a study by the Sentencing Project, a Washington
research and advocacy group, found that 37 percent of public
officials surveyed in 10 states either misstated a central
provision of the voter eligibility law or were unsure about
what the law said.
AB 149
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"Among the millions of unregistered voters in California are
people who mistakenly believe they are ineligible to vote due
to a criminal charge or conviction. Despite the fact that
civic participation can be a critical component of re-entry
and has been linked to reduced recidivism, persons involved in
our criminal justice system are not apprised of their voting
rights nor is accurate voter information readily accessible to
them. Instead, rumors and misinformation abound, and even from
courts, public defenders and elections officials often give
out incorrect information about eligibility. For example, in a
phone survey conducted immediately prior to the 2012
presidential election, one in three elections offices,
including the Secretary of State's office, could not provide
correct information about voting with a felony conviction.
"The result is that thousands of eligible voters are
unregistered to vote and effectively deprived of the
opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to vote on
issues critical to them and the lives of their families:
school board races, school funding initiatives, statewide
ballot initiatives, and many other important races that
directly impact their communities. Given the racial
disparities in our criminal justice system, the lack of
accurate voter registration information has a particularly
disparate impact on communities of color in California.
"Policies that result in potential voting disfranchisement of
people who have paid their debt to society offend fundamental
tenets of democracy. The problem is only exacerbated when
state and local election officials who are most likely
misinformed about the law operate based on that misinformation
or turn away people who have a legal right to vote.
"Given the confusion among those responsible for administering
the law, it is no surprise that people who are legally
entitled to vote either don't try out of fear that they would
be committing a crime, have misconceptions as it relates to
the law, or are wrongly turned away.
"By offering voter registration to the thousands of eligible
voters who pass through our criminal justice system, the state
will be taking an important step toward increasing its dismal
voter registration rate. Additionally, the public welfare and
safety of our communities will be enhanced by the civic
participation of all eligible voters, which includes those who
AB 149
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are attempting to successfully re-enter their communities."
2)Criminal Justice Realignment & Inmate Voting Eligibility : In
2011, California passed a series of bills known as the
Criminal Justice Realignment Act. Prior to realignment, most
felony sentences were served in state prison. Under
realignment, certain lower-level felony offenders, who would
have been sentenced to state prison, are now sentenced to
serve their time in custody in county jail. Additionally,
after release from custody and depending on the offense and
sentence, realignment created the option of an inmate to be
released to a term of post-release community supervision
(under the control of the local probation department) or
mandatory supervision.
With the enactment of realignment, the Secretary of State's
office issued a memorandum to determine its impact on voting
eligibility. The Secretary of State's office concluded that
realignment "does not change the voting status of offenders
convicted of [realignment]-defined low-level felonies, either
because they serve their felony sentences in county jail
instead of state prison or because the mandatory supervision
that is a condition of their release from prison is labeled
something other than 'parole.' Offenders convicted of
[realignment]-defined low-level felonies continue to be
disqualified from voting while serving a felony sentence in
county jail, while at the discretion of the court serving a
concluding portion of that term on county-supervised
probation, or while they remain under mandatory 'post release
community supervision' after release from state prison."
(Cal. Sect. of State Off., Voter Registration: Status of
Persons Convicted Under State's New Criminal Justice
Realignment Statutes, Memorandum # 11134 (Dec. 5, 2011).)
Consequently, the Secretary of State revised the language on
the California voter registration form and requires a person
to attest under penalty of perjury the following:
I am a U.S. citizen and will be at least 18 years old
on election day. I am not in prison, on parole,
serving a state prison sentence in county jail,
serving a sentence for a felony pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Penal Code section 1170, or on post
release community supervision. I understand that it
is a crime to intentionally provide incorrect
AB 149
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information on this form. I declare under penalty of
perjury under the laws of the State of California that
the information on this form is true and correct.
(Cal. Sect. of State Off., Voter Registration: New Felon
Eligibility Language, Memorandum # 13023 (Feb. 25,
2013).)
Moreover, to reflect the opinion of the Secretary of
State's office, the voters rights guide for incarcerated
persons currently states that inmates in county jail
serving a state prison sentence or a felony sentence
under Penal Code section 1170(h) or on parole, mandatory
supervision, or post release are ineligible to vote.
Voting rights groups filed a lawsuit against the
Secretary of State arguing that realigned individuals
have a right to vote. The petition was summarily denied
by the Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court
denied review. (All of Us or None v. Bowen (Cal.Ct.App.
2012) No. A134775, review denied Jul. 25, 2012, No.
S202885 [2012 Cal.LEXIS 7130].)
With respect to a certain population of inmates sentenced
to county jail (i.e., those sentenced under realignment),
it appears that they are not eligible to vote currently.
If an inmate realigned to serve time in county jail or on
post release community supervision decides to register to
vote while in custody, will that inmate subject him or
herself to prosecution for perjury for signing the
revised voter registration affidavit if the affidavit is
made available to him or her? It is worth noting,
however, that AB 938 (Weber) of this legislative session
seeks to allow these individuals to vote through changes
to the Elections Code (as opposed to a constitutional
amendment which may be necessary given Section 4 of
Article II of the Constitution). Consequently, the
author may wish to consider making this bill contingent
upon the passage and enactment of AB 938.
Other populations sentenced to county jail (e.g., those
convicted of only a misdemeanor offense), however, are
eligible to vote currently and may benefit from the
information required by this bill.
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3)Practical Considerations : Existing law requires the facility
administrator of each local detention facility to adopt
written policies and procedures whereby the county registrar
of voters allows those qualified voters in the detention
facility to vote. (Cal. Code of Regulations, Title 15,
Section 1071.) Additionally, when an inmate or parolee is
released from the custody of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), that person is given a
Certificate of Discharge. Included on the Certificate of
Discharge is the following statement:
An ex-felon becomes eligible to vote after being
discharged from parole. You may obtain a Voter
Registration Card by contacting the Elections Division
of the California Secretary of State's Office at (800)
345-VOTE (800-345-8683).
Given that local detention facilities already are required to
set up procedures to allow inmates to vote and that inmates
and parolees released from the custody of CDCR are informed of
their right to vote upon being discharged, is the additional
information required by this bill necessary?
4)Argument in Support : According to the National Association of
Social Workers, California Chapter , "The right to vote is one
of the most basic and important rights we are bestowed by our
government. It is important that those who lost the right to
vote due to incarceration are provided with information to
reinstate that right. People who have been convicted of a
crime might not know how to get the information they need to
understand their voting rights, this is where state
participation is valuable. The state benefits from an engaged
and broad voter base."
5)Related Legislation :
a) AB 131 (Williams) would provide that the affiant's
failure to furnish his or her place of birth on the voter
registration affidavit does not prevent the affidavit from
being deemed complete. AB 131 is pending in the Senate
Rules Committee.
b) AB 938 (Weber) would specify that state parole does not
include a person on post-release community supervision or
mandatory supervision for the purpose of voting
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eligibility. AB 938 is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee.
6)Prior Legislation : AB 821 (Ridley-Thomas), of the 2005-06
Legislative Session, would have required county election
officials to provide voter registration affidavits and inmate
voting guides to local detention facilities to make available
to specified inmates. AB 821 died in the Senate Elections,
Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
A New Path
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Broken No More
California Association of Nonprofits
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744