BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 817
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 817 (Bonta)
As Amended June 25, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |49-23|(May 23, 2013) |SENATE: |22-10|(July 8, 2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Authorizes county elections officials to appoint a
person who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the
United States (U.S.), as specified, and who is otherwise
eligible to register to vote, except for his or her lack of U.S.
citizenship, to serve as a precinct board member. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Provides that in order to promote civic engagement among
residents of the state and to provide additional members of
precinct boards, an elections official may appoint not more
than five nonvoters per precinct to serve as precinct board
members.
2)Permits a nonvoter to be appointed, notwithstanding their lack
of eligibility to vote, if the nonvoter possesses the
following qualifications:
a) Is lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the
U.S., as defined in Section 101(a)(20) of the federal
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 United States Code
(U.S.C.) Section 1101(a)(20)); and,
b) Is otherwise eligible to register to vote pursuant to
existing law except for his or her lack of U.S.
citizenship.
3)Prohibits a nonvoter appointed to a precinct board pursuant to
this bill from serving as, or performing any of the duties, of
the inspector of a precinct board, or tallying votes for the
precinct board.
The Senate amendments make technical changes.
AB 817
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FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Over 2.6 million eligible
voters in California are not yet fully proficient in English,
including 47% of eligible voters who are naturalized. Without
language assistance, these citizens face challenges in asserting
their right to vote and casting an informed ballot. This
assistance includes the recruitment of bilingual individuals to
serve as poll workers on Election Day. Many voters with
language barriers rely on bilingual poll workers to navigate the
voting process.
"However, for large counties or counties with new language
obligations, the task of recruiting bilingual poll workers can
be daunting. As the diversity of the state increases, new tools
are needed to ensure that language assistance is available at
the polling place and in the voter registration process. AB 817
addresses this need by expanding the pool of available bilingual
speakers to serve as poll workers and other election volunteers.
AB 817 seeks to replicate the successful high school student
poll worker program which a number of counties have used to
bolster their poll worker recruitment. AB 817 does not impose
any mandates on counties."
Existing law allows a high school student to serve as a precinct
board member, despite his or her lack of eligibility to vote, as
long as the student is 16 years old at the time of the election,
is a U.S. citizen at the time of the election, is in good
standing at his or her high school, and has a grade point
average of at least 2.5. County elections officials are allowed
to recruit up to five student poll workers at each precinct.
The provisions of this bill are similar to the requirements in
place for student poll workers. This bill seeks to promote
civic engagement among residents of the state and provide for
additional precinct board members by allowing the elections
official to appoint up to five nonvoters per precinct to serve
as precinct board members. A nonvoter may be appointed, despite
his or her lack of eligibility to vote, as long as the nonvoter
is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and is otherwise
eligible to register to vote, except for his or her lack of U.S.
citizenship.
The Senate amendments to this bill make technical changes. This
bill, as amended in the Senate, is consistent with the Assembly
AB 817
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actions.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
FN: 0001249