BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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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:
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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
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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 8/7/13)
Secretary of State (source)
American Legions, Department of California
American Nurses Association, California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California Common Cause
California Profession Firefighters
California State Commanders Veterans Council
California Teachers Association
Disability Rights California
Equality California
League of Women Voters
Service Employees International Union
VFW, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
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
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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
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 8/7/13 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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