BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: AB 813 HEARING DATE: 6/4/13
AUTHOR: MELENDEZ ANALYSIS BY: Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 4/16/13
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Election results
DESCRIPTION
Existing law provides for all of the following:
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 Secretary of State (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;
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.
This bill requires the SOS and county elections officials
to post on their respective websites and to maintain on
these websites for at least 10 years, their certified
statement of election results in a downloadable spreadsheet
format, as specified, that is compatible with software
widely in use at the time of posting.
This bill provides that this requirement applies only to
those counties with a computer system capable of compliance
without undergoing any modification.
BACKGROUND
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
AB 813 (MELENDEZ) Page
2
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.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author : Current California election law
requires only one paper copy of the results of an
election to be posted 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.
AB 813 will require counties' Registrar of Voters and the
Secretary of State to post the certified statement of
election results online in a downloadable spreadsheet
file such as comma-separated values (.csv) or
tab-separated values (.tsv). This will allow for greater
election transparency by allowing an individual to easily
access and analyze election results using modern modes of
technology such as Microsoft Excel.
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.
AB 813 (MELENDEZ) Page
3
2.Concerns Expressed : While not taking a formal position
on this bill, the California Association of Clerks and
Election Officials (CACEO) expressed concerns with this
bill. Among other things, CACEO expressed concerns 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.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 75-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California Election Protection Network
Voting Rights Task Force of Alameda County
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Several individuals
Oppose: None received
AB 813 (MELENDEZ) Page
4