BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 331|
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                                       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  
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            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,  

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            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

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          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 


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                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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