BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 269
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Date of Hearing: May 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 269 (Grove and Patterson) - As Amended: April 16, 2013
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Veterans Affairs 8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill allows the vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot of a military or
overseas voter to arrive up to three days after the election and
still be counted if the ballot is postmarked by the US Postal
Service or the Military Postal Service on or before election
day.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor reimbursable General Fund costs for counties to sort
through ballots arriving too late and determine which ones are
eligible to be counted pursuant to this bill. According to the
Secretary of State (SOS), for the November 2012 election, about
2,600 (4%) of the 63,200 overseas ballots returned were rejected
for arriving after election day. Assuming two-thirds of these
late-arriving ballots would have met the three-day window, an
additional 1,750 ballots would be processed and counted under
this bill. The availability of this three-day window would
probably increase somewhat the number of ballots arriving after
election day, but before the new deadline.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author believes every effort should be made to
ensure that the votes of those serving their country overseas
are counted.
Several steps have been taken in recent year to facilitate the
registration and voting of those overseas. These voters can
request voter registration applications and absentee ballot
applications by mail or electronically. They can also
AB 269
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register to vote and apply for VBM ballot by facsimile
transmission, and elections officials are required to send a
VBM ballot by mail, facsimile, or electronic transmission, as
requested by the voter. Military or overseas voters may also
return their ballots by facsimile transmission.
2)Opposition . The California Association of Clerks and Elections
Officials (CACEO) is concerned that the bill will make
completion of the official count, within the required 28 days,
more challenging, particularly because provisional ballots
cannot be processed until all VBM ballots are received and
canvassed. The CACEO is also concerned about uncertainty
caused by receiving ballots after election day with an
illegible or no postmark.
3)Related Legislation . SB 29 (Correa), pending in Senate
Appropriations, allows any VBM ballot to be received by the
elections official no later than three days after election day
if the ballot is postmarked on or before election day, or if
the ballot has no postmark or an illegible postmark, and the
VBM ballot identification envelope is signed and dated on or
before election day.
4)Prior Legislation . AB 562 (Fong) of 2012, which was similar to
SB 29, failed passage on the Assembly floor.
AB 477 (Valadao) of 2011, which was substantially similar to AB
269, was held on Suspense in Senate Appropriations.
SB 348 (Correa) of 2011, which was similar to SB 29, but
required receipt of a VBM ballot no later than six days after
election day, was also held on Suspense in Senate
Appropriations.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081