BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1135 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1135 (Mullin) As Amended April 1, 2013 Majority vote ELECTIONS 5-2 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta, | | | | |Hall, Perea | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Jones, Logue | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Expands the list of documents a county elections official may use to compare to the signature on a vote by mail (VBM) ballot identification envelope. Specifically, this bill : 1)Permits a county elections official, upon receipt of a VBM ballot, to compare the signature on the identification envelope with the signature appearing on any supporting document that contains the voter's signature and is part of the voter's registration record to determine whether the signatures compare. 2)Permits a county elections official, upon receipt of a military or overseas ballot returned by facsimile transmission, to determine the voter's eligibility by comparing the signature on the return information with the signature of any supporting document that contains the voter's signature and is part of the voter's registration record. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires a county elections official, upon receiving a VBM ballot, to compare the signatures on the envelope with the signature appearing on the affidavit of registration. Requires the county elections official, if the signatures compare, to deposit the ballot, still in the identification envelope, in a ballot container in his or her office. AB 1135 Page 2 2)Provides that if the ballot is rejected because the signatures do not compare, the envelope shall not be opened and the ballot shall not be counted. Requires the cause of the rejection to be written on the face of the identification envelope. 3)Permits a county elections official to use the signature on the voter's VBM application for the signature comparison, if the elections official compared the signature on the voter's VBM ballot application with the signature on the voter's affidavit of registration. 4)Permits a county elections official to use the duplicate file of affidavits of registered voters or facsimiles of voters' signatures when determining from the records of registration if the signature and residence address compare, as specified. FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : According to the author, "signatures often change over time. For example, a young voter who registers to vote at 17 or 18 may not have solidified his or her permanent signature. In addition, as use of electronic signatures increases, young voters may not have developed a handwritten signature in the first place. Similarly, elderly voters' signatures often change with age. "In current law, the only signature permitted for use in verifying a voter's ballot is the signature attached to the original registration affidavit. This means ballots are being summarily rejected, despite access to more recent signatures in a voter's registration record. "Tying a voter's signature to the original registration affidavit does not account for signatures that change or develop over time. In some cases, the voter's original signature is decades old. "Additionally, the registrar of voters regularly receives other relevant documents from voters that contain updated signatures. Examples include address updates and absentee ballot requests. "To ensure all voters have the greatest chance of having their AB 1135 Page 3 votes count, AB 1135 allows county registrars to compare a voter's ballot signature to any other document in his or her voter registration record that contains that voter's signature." Over the years, Contra Costa County, similar to many other counties, has collected data concerning VBM ballots. The collection and analysis of this data has helped counties take proactive steps to improve the success rate for VBM voters. According to Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder's November 6, 2012, General Presidential Election Report, at the November 2010 election, they saw an increase in signatures being rejected for "no match." Upon further investigation, they found that voters less than 50 years of age and clustered in the 20-39 age groups represented a disproportionately high number of rejected ballots for no signature match. According to the report, in an effort to help mitigate this problem, Contra Costa County changed their "Make Your Vote Count" insert that is placed in their outgoing VBM packets to highlight the problem. The insert alerted voters that how they sign their name matters when they sign their ballot envelope and reminded voters that if their signature changed to immediately re-register so their current registration would be on file. According to the report, the outreach efforts did have a positive effect and the county saw a reduction in rejected signatures by over 40% between the November 2010 and November 2012 elections. However, despite that reduction, younger voters remain well above the average for rejected signatures. Consequently, Contra Costa County plans to do more outreach via the social networks in hopes to educate voters and reduce the number of ballots rejected. SB 589 (Hill), permits a county elections official, when comparing the signature on a VBM identification envelope, to use the signature appearing on the voter's current or previous affidavit of registration on file with the elections official, among other provisions. SB 589 is pending the Senate Appropriations Committee. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 AB 1135 Page 4 FN: 0000127