BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 331
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 7, 2013

                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
                                  Paul Fong, Chair
                    AB 331 (Garcia) - As Amended:  April 30, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Consolidation of elections.

           SUMMARY  :  Requires voter challenges, election contests, and  
          recounts to be conducted in accordance with state law for any  
          election that is consolidated with a statewide election, a  
          special election, or a regularly scheduled election held for the  
          purposes of electing governing board members for school  
          districts, community college districts, county boards of  
          education, or special districts. Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Provides that the relevant provisions of state law regulating  
            voter challenges, election contests, and recounts, shall apply  
            to any election that is consolidated with a statewide  
            election, a special election, or a regularly scheduled  
            election held to elect governing board members to a school  
            district, community college district, county board of  
            education, or a special district.

          2)Requires a jurisdiction, if it requests to have an election  
            consolidated with a statewide election, a special election, or  
            a regularly scheduled election held to elect governing board  
            members to a school district, community college district,  
            county board of education, or a special district, to  
            acknowledge that the relevant provisions of state law  
            regulating voter challenges, election contests, and recounts,  
            shall apply to that election.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Permits an election that is called by a district, city, or  
            other political subdivision to be consolidated with a  
            statewide election that is being held on the same day if  
            certain conditions are met.

          2)Provides that if an election is consolidated with a statewide  
            election or a regularly scheduled election held to elect  
            governing board members to a school district, community  
            college district, county board of education, or a special  
            district, the consolidated election shall be held and  








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            conducted, election officers appointed, voting precincts  
            designated, candidates nominated, ballots printed, polls  
            opened and closed, ballots counted and returned, returns  
            canvassed, results declared, certificates of election issued,  
            and all other proceedings connected with the election be  
            regulated and done in accordance with the provisions of law  
            regulating the statewide or regularly scheduled election.

          3)Permits a county or a city to provide for its own governance  
            through the adoption of a charter by a majority vote of its  
            electors voting on the question.  

          4)Permits a city charter to provide for the conduct of city  
            elections.  

          5)Provides that a legally adopted city charter supersedes all  
            laws inconsistent with that charter with respect to municipal  
            affairs.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.

           COMMENTS :   

           1)Purpose of the Bill  :  According to the author:

               Existing law allows any state, county, municipal,  
               district, and school district to consolidate elections  
               (EC 10402.5). In certain cases, election consolidation  
               may present a risk to the integrity of the elections  
               process due to a lack of clarity with regard to the  
               jurisdiction of the County Election Official over a  
               county run election.  County elections are conducted  
               in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.   
               Charter cities in California, however, establish a  
               local election official and may often adopt additional  
               election policies and procedures.  When a local  
               district, such as a charter city, consolidates an  
               election with a county run election, it may create  
               some confusion as to the jurisdiction of the local  
               election official over the election.  Also, because  
               these municipalities are not conducting federal or  
               state elections, they may (inadvertently or not) adopt  
               policies that conflict with state and federal election  
               laws. AB 331 would clarify and strengthen existing  
               provisions ensuring a consistent application of  








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               election practices and procedures by requiring that a  
               district that consolidates an election with a  
               statewide or county election cannot apply practices  
               that conflict with state and federal laws.   
               Ultimately, this legislation would help provide  
               citizens a fairer and more consistent election  
               process.

           2)Charter City Authority & Limitations on Election  
            Consolidations  :  As noted above, existing law gives cities and  
            counties the ability to adopt charters, which give those  
            jurisdictions greater autonomy over local affairs.  Charter  
            cities, in particular, have a great deal of autonomy over the  
            rules governing the election of municipal officers.   
            Accordingly, a number of charter cities have adopted election  
            policies and procedures that are not available to general law  
            cities.  To the extent that those election policies and  
            procedures affect only municipal affairs, courts have  
            generally given charter cities a great deal of latitude to set  
            their own policies and procedures.

          When an election for a charter city is consolidated with an  
            election for other jurisdictions, however, the conduct of that  
            city election can impact the elections for other jurisdictions  
            that are on the same ballot.  For instance, a charter city  
            could adopt polling place hours that differ from the hours  
            established under state law, but if an election for such a  
            charter city is consolidated with a statewide election, it  
            would not be feasible to conduct the election in accordance  
            with the polling place hours adopted by the charter city,  
            since that would also impact the other races on the ballot  
            which must be conducted in accordance with state law.  In  
            light of this fact, state law already imposes limitations on  
            elections when they are consolidated with statewide elections  
            or with certain regularly scheduled local elections.  For  
            instance, as noted above, existing law provides that if an  
            election is consolidated with a statewide or regularly  
            scheduled local election, state laws governing the opening and  
            closing of polls, the counting of ballots, and the canvassing  
            of returns generally apply to all offices and measures  
            appearing on that ballot.

          This bill would place further restrictions on the conduct of  
            consolidated elections, ensuring that provisions of state law  
            governing certification of the election, election contests,  








                                                                  AB 331
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            voter challenges, and recounts govern all offices and measures  
            that appear on the ballot at a consolidated election.  Because  
            these aspects of the election process have the potential to  
            affect all races on the ballot, having those procedures  
            conducted in accordance with state law will ensure that a  
            voter's ballot is treated consistently across all contests  
            that appear on the ballot.

          At the same time, because a charter city has the authority to  
            schedule its elections, and is not required to consolidate its  
            elections with statewide or other regularly scheduled  
            elections, these policies should not impinge on charter  
            cities' authority to conduct municipal elections in the manner  
            that they see fit.  To the extent that a charter city is  
            unwilling to comply with state laws governing those aspects of  
            the election, that city is free to conduct its election on a  
            different date.

           3)City of Vernon Municipal Elections & Voter Challenges  :  Last  
            year, the City of Vernon contracted with Los Angeles County to  
            have the county conduct a special municipal election to fill a  
            vacancy on its city council, which was consolidated with the  
            June statewide primary election.  Because the City of Vernon  
            is located entirely within one precinct, and because that  
            precinct has fewer than 250 registered voters, existing law  
            allows that precinct to be designated as an all-mail ballot  
            precinct.  As a result, every registered voter in the City of  
            Vernon received a vote by mail ballot.

          Prior to the election, the Vernon Chamber of Commerce challenged  
            the vote by mail ballots of a number of voters, primarily on  
            the grounds that the voters in question did not live in  
            Vernon.  The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters ultimately  
            rejected those challenges, finding that insufficient evidence  
            was presented to sustain the challenges.  After the Registrar  
            of Voters rejected the challenges and counted the ballots of  
            the challenged voters, the Vernon City Council adopted an  
            emergency ordinance establishing new procedures for municipal  
            election contests, and subsequently adopted procedures for  
            such contests that required the city council to appoint a  
            hearing officer to determine any election contest, instead of  
            having election contests decided by a court, as is the case  
            under state law.  In an election contest held pursuant to  
            these procedures, the hearing officer sustained seven of the  
            challenges that the Registrar of Voters had dismissed, ruling  








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            that those seven voters had illegally cast their ballots.  As  
            a result, those voters' ballots were not counted for the  
            purposes of determining the final results for the special  
            election to fill the vacancy on the city council.

          Because the election contest procedures adopted by the Vernon  
            City Council applies only to municipal elections, however, the  
            seven voters who were found to have voted illegally in Vernon  
            for the purposes of the city election nonetheless were  
            considered to have legally voted in the city of Vernon for  
            other, non-municipal elections held on the same day using the  
            same ballot.  So, for instance, the ballots of those seven  
            voters were still counted as though they were legally  
            registered in Vernon for races for the state Assembly, state  
            Senate, and for Congress.

          This bill will help avoid similar situations in the future by  
            ensuring that all voter challenges, recounts, and election  
            contests are conducted in accordance with state election laws  
            for elections that are consolidated with statewide, special,  
            and regularly scheduled local elections.
































                                                                  AB 331
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           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

          Support 
           
          Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (sponsor)
          California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
          Urban Counties Caucus

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094