BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 331| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 331 Author: Garcia (D) Amended: 4/30/13 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTIT. AMENDMENTS COMM. : 4-0, 6/18/13 AYES: Hancock, Padilla, Yee, Torres NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Consolidation of elections SOURCE : Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors DIGEST : This bill 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. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Permits an election that is called by a district, city, or other political subdivision to be consolidated with a CONTINUED AB 331 Page 2 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 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. 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, CONTINUED AB 331 Page 3 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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/21/13) Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (source) California Association of Clerks and Election Officials CONTINUED AB 331 Page 4 California State Association of Counties Rural County Representatives of California Urban Counties Caucus ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, 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. This bill requires 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. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove, Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy RM:nl 6/21/13 Senate Floor Analyses CONTINUED AB 331 Page 5 SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED