BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 530| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 530 Author: Quirk-Silva (D) Amended: 5/29/13 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS COMM. : 4-1, 7/2/13 AYES: Torres, Hancock, Padilla, Yee NOES: Anderson ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-26, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Vote-by-mail ballots: telephone applications SOURCE : Secretary of State DIGEST : This bill permits a local elections official to allow a voter to apply for a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot by telephone. Allows local election officials to offer voters the ability to apply for a VBM ballot by telephone subject to specified provisions. ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that an application for a VBM voter's ballot shall be made in writing to the elections official having jurisdiction over the election between the 29th and the seventh day prior to the election. The application shall be signed by the applicant and show his/her place of residence. This bill: CONTINUED AB 530 Page 2 1. Requires that in order to apply for VBM ballot by telephone, the applicant must provide to the elections official personal identifying information that matches the information contained on the applicant's affidavit of registration, including first and last name, home address, and date of birth. The applicant's signature is not required for applications received by telephone. 2. Provides that except as otherwise noted, all provisions governing written applications for VBM ballots apply to applications for VBM ballots made by telephone. 3. Specifies that a person shall not apply for a VBM ballot using the name of, or on behalf of, another person. 4. Requires the elections official to advise any voter who applies for a VBM ballot by telephone as follows, "Only the registered voter himself/herself may apply for a VBM ballot. An application for a VBM ballot that is made by any person other than the registered voter is a criminal offense." Background In 1998, 25% of voters who participated in the California Primary Election chose to participate through a VBM ballot. The number of voters choosing to vote using this method has increased significantly, particularly since the enactment of AB 1520 (Shelley, Chapter 922, Statutes of 2001) which allowed any voter to apply to become a permanent VBM voter. Since then, the portion of the electorate VBM has reached as high as 65% during the Primary Election and 51% in the General Election. This trend indicates that the number of people who choose to VBM will continue to increase. Existing law allows voters to request a VBM ballot by mailing in a request, filling out an application provided to them by their local elections official, filling out an application provided to them by the Secretary of State (SOS), or by applying online with their county elections official if their county has established such a system. When a voter goes online to request a VBM ballot, they don't have to provide a signature. Instead, the signature CONTINUED AB 530 Page 3 verification required by law takes place when the elections official receives the completed VBM ballot during an election and the signature on the VBM envelope is matched against the voter's signature on their voter registration application. If the signatures match the ballot is eligible to be counted. Prior Legislation AB 2154 (Solorio of 2010) was substantially similar to this bill. AB 2154 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who expressed concern that it could open the VBM ballot application process to fraud. AB 2277 (Keeley, Chapter 753, Statutes of 2002) requires the SOS to provide local elections officials with a uniform electronic application format for VBM ballots and gives local elections officials the option of allowing voters to apply for VBM ballots electronically. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/13) Secretary of State (source) American Nurses Association, California California Association of Clerks and Election Officials California Common Cause California Profession Firefighters California Teachers Association Disability Rights California League of Women Voters Service Employees International Union ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "California law currently allows a voter to request a vote by mail (VBM) ballot by completing an application provided by the local elections official, using a uniform electronic application provided through the Secretary of State's website, or by applying through the local election official's website. However, application by telephone is not permitted. "Increasing participation and accessibility to voting is an imperative for any democratic society. Polls consistently CONTINUED AB 530 Page 4 indicate that the largest stated reason for not voting is an inability to find the time. By not allowing applications for VBM ballots by telephone, voters without internet access either [must] go to the local elections office or call to request that a paper application be mailed to them. These extra steps take more time than other methods, cost more money to administer, and are barriers to VBM voting. "AB 530 removes barriers to vote by mail application for those without internet access by allowing citizens to apply using a more ubiquitous technology, the telephone. The bill also maintains our current standards of protection against voter fraud by placing the same requirements for telephone applicants that currently exist for those who apply online through a local election official's secure website. AB 530 also may save money for local election officials by allowing them to accept applications directly over the telephone instead of using the more costly method of mailing an application and receiving it by return mail before entering the information into their election management system." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-26, 5/30/13 AYES: Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Holden, Vacancy RM:d 7/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED AB 530 Page 5 CONTINUED