AB 1135, as amended, Mullin. Vote by mail ballots: signature verification.
Existing law sets forth procedures for processing vote by mail ballots and requires that a county elections official, upon receiving a vote by mail ballot, compare the signature on the vote by mail ballot’s identification envelope with the signature on the voter’s affidavit of registration or the signature on the voter’s application for a vote by mail ballot, as specified.
This bill would revise and recast these provisions and would provide that a county elections official would also be permitted to compare the signature on the identification envelope with the signature appearing on anybegin insert specifiedend insert supporting document that contains the voter’s signature and is part of the voter’s registration record.
Existing law sets forth procedures for voting by military or overseas voters, as defined, and permits a military or overseas voter to return his or her ballot by facsimile transmission, accompanied by an oath of voter declaration that includes the voter’s signature. Existing law requires that a county elections official, upon receiving the ballot of a military or overseas voter returned by facsimile transmission, compare the signature on the oath of voter declaration with the signature on the voter’s affidavit of registration.
This bill would provide that a county elections official would also be permitted to compare the signature on the oath of voter declaration with the signature appearing on anybegin insert specifiedend insert supporting document that contains the voter’s signature and is part of the voter’s registration record.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 3019 of the Elections Code is repealed.
Section 3019 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
(a) Upon receipt of a vote by mail ballot, the elections
4official shall compare the signature on the identification envelope
5with any of the following to determine whether the signatures
6compare:
7(1) The signature appearing on the voter’s affidavit of
8registration.
9(2) The signature appearing on the voter’s vote by mail ballot
10application, provided the elections official has compared the
11signature on the voter’s vote by mail ballot application with the
12signature on the voter’s affidavit of registration pursuant to Section
133009.
14(3) The
signature appearing on anybegin insert one of the followingend insert
15 supportingbegin delete documentend deletebegin insert documentsend insert that contains the voter’s signature
16and is part of the voter’s registration begin deleterecord. end deletebegin insertrecord:end insert
17(A) A form for use by a military or overseas voter pertaining to
18the voter’s identity, eligibility to vote, and status as a military or
19overseas voter, as specified in Section 3101.
20(B) A form designed to permit a voter to opt out of receiving
21election materials, as specified in Section 13300.7.
22(C) A form designed to indicate a voter’s preference for ballot
23materials in a language other than English.
24(D) A form containing corrected voter information and submitted
25at a polling place.
26(E) A form confirming a voter’s change of address or residency
27information.
P3 1(b) In comparing signatures pursuant to subdivision (a), the
2elections official may use the duplicate file of affidavits of
3registered voters or facsimiles of voters’ signatures, provided that
4the method of preparing and displaying the facsimiles complies
5with the law.
6(c) (1) If upon conducting the comparison of signatures pursuant
7to subdivision (a) the elections official determines that the
8signatures compare, he or she shall deposit the ballot, still in the
9identification envelope, in a ballot container in his or her office.
10(2) If upon conducting the comparison of signatures pursuant
11to subdivision (a) the elections official determines that the
12signatures do not compare, the identification envelope shall not
13be
opened and the ballot shall not be counted. The cause of the
14rejection shall be written on the face of the identification envelope.
15(d) The variation of a signature caused by the substitution of
16initials for the first or middle name, or both, shall not be grounds
17for the elections official to determine that the signatures do not
18compare.
19(e) A ballot shall not be removed from its identification envelope
20until the time for processing ballots. A ballot shall not be rejected
21for cause after the identification envelope has been opened.
Section 3106 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
(a) A military or overseas voter who is living outside
I, , acknowledge that by returning my voted
24of the territorial limits of the United States or the District of
25Columbia, or is called for military service within the United States
26on or after the final date to make application for a vote by mail
27ballot, may return his or her ballot by facsimile transmission. To
28be counted, the ballot returned by facsimile transmission shall be
29received by the voter’s elections official no later than the closing
30of the polls on election day and shall be accompanied by an
31identification envelope containing all of the information required
32by Section 3011 and an oath of voter declaration in substantially
33the following form:
34
begin deleteOATH end deletebegin insert“OATH end insertOF VOTER
ballot by facsimile transmission I have waived my right to have my ballot
kept secret. Nevertheless, I understand that, as with any vote by mail
voter, my signature,
whether on this oath of voter form or my identification
envelope, will be permanently separated from my voted ballot to maintain
its secrecy at the outset of the tabulation process and thereafter.
My residence address is .
(Street Address)(City)(ZIP Code)
My current mailing address is .
(Street Address)(City)(ZIP
Code)
My email address is _________________. My facsimile transmission
number is _________________.
I am a resident of __________ County, State of California, or am qualified
as an elector pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 321 of
the Elections Code and I have not applied, nor intend to apply, for a vote by
mail ballot from any other jurisdiction for the same election.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Dated this __________ day of ______, 20_____.
(Signature)
begin deletevoterend deletebegin insert (voter)end insert (power
of attorney cannot be accepted)
YOUR BALLOT CANNOT BE COUNTED UNLESS YOU SIGN THE
ABOVE OATH AND INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR BALLOT AND
IDENTIFICATION ENVELOPE, ALL OF WHICH ARE RETURNED
BY FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION.begin insert”end insert
30(b) Notwithstanding the voter’s waiver of the right to a secret
31ballot, each elections official shall adopt appropriate procedures
32to protect the secrecy of ballots returned by facsimile transmission.
33(c) Upon receipt of a ballot returned by facsimile transmission,
34the elections official shall determine the voter’s
eligibility to vote
35by comparing the signature on the return information with the
36signature on the voter’s affidavit of registration or any supporting
37document that contains the voter’s signature and is part of the
38voter’s registration recordbegin insert, in accordance with Section 3019end insert. The
P5 1ballot shall be duplicated and all materials preserved according to
2procedures set forth in this code.
3(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a military or overseas voter
4who is permitted to return his or her ballot by facsimile
5transmission is, nonetheless, encouraged to return his or her ballot
6by mail or in person if possible. A military or overseas voter should
7return a ballot by facsimile transmission only if doing so is
8necessary for the ballot to be received before the
close of polls on
9election day.
O
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