BILL ANALYSIS �
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,
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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.
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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