BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 813
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 813 (Melendez) - As Amended: March 14, 2013
SUBJECT : Election results.
SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to post election results
on the Internet in a downloadable spreadsheet format, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires each local elections official to post the certified
statement of the results of an election on his or her Internet
Web site in a downloadable spreadsheet format that may
include, but is not limited to, a comma-separated values file
or a tab-separated values file and that is compatible with a
spreadsheet software application that is widely used at the
time of posting.
2)Requires the Secretary of State (SOS), after preparing a
certified statement of the vote for elections for specified
offices, to post that statement on his or her Internet Web
site in a downloadable spreadsheet format that may include,
but is not limited to, a comma-separated values file or a
tab-separated values file and that is compatible with a
spreadsheet software application that is widely used at the
time of posting.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the elections official who conducts an election to
prepare a certified statement of the results of the election
and submit it to the governing body within 28 days of the
election or, in the case of school district, community college
district, county board of education, or special district
elections conducted on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November of odd-numbered years, no later than the
last Monday before the last Friday of that month.
2)Requires the SOS to compile results and prepare, certify, and
file a statement of the vote from the compiled results for all
of the following:
a) All candidates for statewide office;
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b) All candidates for Assembly, State Senate, Congress,
Board of Equalization, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeal;
and,
c) All statewide measures.
3)Requires an elections official to send the SOS, in an
electronic format, the results of all of the following:
a) All candidates voted for the following offices:
i) Statewide office;
ii) Member of the Assembly;
iii) Member of the Senate;
iv) Member of the United States House of
Representatives;
v) Member of the State Board of Equalization;
vi) Justice of the Court of Appeal; and,
vii) Judge of the superior court;
b) The persons voted for at the presidential primary;
c) The vote given for persons for electors of President and
Vice President of the United States;
d) All statewide measures; and,
e) The total number of ballots cast.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Current California election law requires only one
paper copy of the results of an election to be posted
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where the votes were counted for public inspection.
However, modern technology makes this law seem
prehistoric and in need of updating. It also does not
provide an adequate way for an individual to analyze
election data to maintain that the election was done
honestly.
Voting is a fundamental right. It is imperative we
ensure our elections are carried out with the utmost
integrity. Technology has provided greater avenues for
ways of transparency like never before. It is
important that we utilize them.
2)Electronic Results : Existing law already requires elections
officials to provide results in an electronic format for
certain elections. Specifically, county elections officials
are required to provide the SOS with results in an electronic
format for elections for state and federal office, and for
statewide ballot measures. State law provides for these
results to be transmitted electronically to the SOS in the
manner requested by the SOS, but does not explicitly state a
specific format in which those results must appear.
Most county elections officials already make election results
available on their Internet Web sites-57 of 58 county
elections officials have results posted on the Internet for
the most recent election held in the county, and 52 of 58
county elections officials have results for at least some
elections prior to the most recent election. In most cases,
however, elections results are available in HTML or PDF
format, and not in a format that can easily be imported into a
spreadsheet application. At least seven counties, however,
currently provide election results on their Internet Web sites
in a format that appears to comply with the requirements of
this bill.
3)All Elections, All Jurisdictions : The provisions of this bill
apply to all public elections held in California, including
standalone city, school district, and special district
elections. While county elections officials conduct elections
on behalf of most school districts and special districts, and
on behalf of some cities, there are a number of cities that
conduct their own elections. In every instance, this bill
would require the elections official to maintain a public
website and to post election results in a specified format on
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that website, regardless of the size of the jurisdiction, of
whether the elections official currently maintains a public
Web site, and of whether the elections official uses a system
that allows for the statement of the results to be easily
prepared in a format that is in compliance with the
requirements of this bill.
To minimize the burden of this bill, the committee may wish to
consider amending this bill to make it applicable only to
local jurisdictions that use a system that has the capability
to generate results in a format that complies with this bill.
Additionally, the committee may wish to consider an amendment
to provide that if a jurisdiction has that capability, but
does not have a Web site, the official shall not be required
to create one for the purposes of posting the information
required by this bill, but instead shall provide the election
results electronically upon request by any person.
4)Duration of Posting : Because this bill does not specify a
duration of time for which the election results are required
to be posted, it appears that this bill would require election
results to be posted on the elections official's Web site
permanently. The committee may wish to consider whether it
would be appropriate to set a limit on the length of time that
an elections official is required to keep election results
posted on his or her Web site.
5)Concerns Expressed : While not taking a formal position on
this bill, the California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials (CACEO) expressed a number of concerns with this
bill. Specifically, CACEO expressed concerns that some
counties may need to have changes made to their voting systems
to comply with this bill, requiring a recertification of those
systems; that the cost of this bill may be significant and the
state may not reimburse local jurisdictions for these costs;
that the specified format for the posting of election results
is vague; and that the election results may be manipulated by
the public and presented in an alternate fashion, thereby
putting the integrity of the results in question.
6)State Mandates : The 2011-12 and 2012-13 state budgets
included the suspension of various state mandates as a
mechanism for cost savings. Included on the list of
suspensions were all six existing elections-related mandates.
All the existing elections-related mandates have been proposed
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for suspension again by the Governor in his budget for the
2013-14 fiscal year.
This bill would establish a new state-mandated local program by
requiring each local elections official to post election
results on his or her Internet Web site in a specified format.
To the extent that a local elections official does not
already have the election results in a format that is
compliant with the requirements of this bill, this bill could
also create new state-mandated costs for the elections
official to create such a document. The Committee may wish to
consider whether it is desirable to establish this new
mandates when the Legislature has voted to suspend the
existing election mandates.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Six individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094