BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: AB 331 HEARING DATE: 6/18/13
AUTHOR: GARCIA ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 4/30/13
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Consolidation of elections
DESCRIPTION
Existing law 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.
Existing law 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 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.
Existing law 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.
Existing law permits a city charter to provide for the conduct
of city elections.
Existing law provides that a legally adopted city charter
supersedes all laws inconsistent with that charter with respect
to municipal affairs.
This bill 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.
AB 331 (GARCIA)
Page 2
This bill 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.
BACKGROUND
Charter City Authority & Limitations on Election Consolidations :
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.
COMMENTS
AB 331 (GARCIA)
Page 3
1. According to the Author : Existing law allows any state,
county, municipal, district, and charter city elections to
be consolidated. In certain cases, election consolidation
may present a risk to the integrity of the elections
process. County elections are conducted in accordance with
applicable state and federal laws. Charter cities in
California, however, may adopt additional election policies
and procedures. 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 (GARCIA)
Page 4
AB 331 would require that elections consolidated with a
statewide or regularly scheduled county election be
conducted under applicable State and Federal laws, including
relevant county election procedures and practices. This
bill will ensure 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. 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 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.
AB 331 (GARCIA)
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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.
AB 331 (GARCIA)
Page 6
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 6-0
Assembly Floor: 70-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Support: California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials (CACEO)
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC)
Urban Counties Caucus
Oppose: None received
AB 331 (GARCIA)
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