BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1135
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1135 (Mullin)
As Amended April 1, 2013
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 5-2
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|Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta, | | |
| |Hall, Perea | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Jones, Logue | | |
| | | | |
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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.
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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
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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
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