BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair BILL NO: AB 1135 HEARING DATE: 6/4/13 AUTHOR: MULLIN ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon Estoista AMENDED: 5/28/13 FISCAL: NO SUBJECT Vote by mail ballots: signature verification DESCRIPTION Existing law requires a county elections official, upon receiving a vote by mail (VBM) ballot, to compare the signatures on the envelope with the signature appearing on the affidavit of registration. If the signatures compare, the elections official shall deposit the ballot, still in its identification envelope, into a ballot container in his or her office. Existing law 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, and requires the cause of the rejection be written on the face of the identification envelope. Existing law 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. Existing law permits a county elections official to use the duplicate file of affidavits of registered voters or the facsimiles of voters' signatures when determining from the records of registration if the signature and residence address compare. This bill adds additional "supporting documents" that contain the voter's signature and is part of the voter's registration record for use when comparing the signature on the identification envelope as follows: (A) A form for use by a military or overseas voter pertaining to the voter's identity, eligibility to vote, and status as a military or overseas voter. (B) A form designed to permit a voter to opt out of receiving election materials. (C) A form designed to indicate a voter's preference for ballot materials in a language other than English. (D) A form containing corrected voter information and submitted at a polling place. (E) A form confirming a voter's change of address or residency information. This bill 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. This bill makes other minor grammatical changes. BACKGROUND Contra Costa County Report . 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 a November 6, 2012 General Presidential Election Report prepared by the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder, at the November 2010 election, the county 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 had a positive AB 1135 (MULLIN) Page 2 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. COMMENTS 1. According to the Author : In the November 2012 election, more voters voted by mail than in person. Since 1980, the percent of votes cast by mail in general elections has increased from about 6% to just over 50%. Because voting by mail is quickly becoming the preferred voting method, it is critical we do everything we can to ensure voters' ballots are counted. Last November, nearly 60,000 vote-by-mail ballots were rejected. About one-third were not counted because the signatures on the vote-by-mail envelopes did not match the signatures on the voters' original registration affidavits. The requirement that the signature on a vote-by-mail envelope matches the voter's original registration affidavit is unique to absentee ballots. Signature matching is not required when a person shows up to vote at a polling place. Given the nature of voting by mail, this verification system is important-but it also has pitfalls. One major drawback is that voters' signatures change over time. Let's consider young voters, who are often in the process of developing a permanent signature. Among vote-by-mail ballots rejected because the signatures didn't match, 20-29 year-old voters accounted for a disproportionate number of rejections. These voters submitted just 6% of vote-by-mail ballots, but were accountable for 30% of rejections due to mismatching signatures. On the other end of the spectrum are older voters, whose signatures can change considerably as they age. Their original registration affidavits have often been on file for decades. Assembly Bill 1135 will allow county registrars to compare the signature on a vote-by-mail envelope with any signature that is part of the voter's official registration record, such as AB 1135 (MULLIN) Page 3 a permanent vote-by-mail application or other forms. AB 1135 is a critical measure to ensure all Californians have the best chance possible to have their votes counted. 2. How Would This Work ? A strict read of existing law only allows the signature on a voter's affidavit of registration to be used when comparing signatures on a VBM ballot or a military or overseas ballot returned by facsimile transmission. The author argues that signatures change or develop over time and in some cases a voter's signature on their affidavit of registration can be outdated. Consequently, valid ballots are being rejected despite access to more recent signatures in a voter's registration record. According to county elections officials, many voters' registration records contain a variety of supporting documents that could be used when comparing a voter's signature. Examples of supporting documents include, but are not limited to, address updates, VBM ballot requests, letters from the voter, and postcard updates. When received, these supporting documents are scanned and kept in the voter's registration record. Many of these supporting documents contain the voters' name, address and signature. 3. How Many Ballots Were Rejected Due to Mismatching Signatures ? According to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, at the November 2012 General Election, Sacramento County had 3,035 VBM ballots rejected. Of those, 1,064 (approximately 35%) were rejected because the signature did not match, 403 did not have signatures, 14 had no ballot enclosed, and the rest were received too late to be counted. Historically, the main reasons why a ballot is rejected for a signature mismatch is because the signature is unreadable, missing or has changed and is out of date. However, there is evidence to suggest that as the voting process modernizes and new technologies are used, the election process is being impacted. For example, the author's staff provided the committee with a copy of a partial signature that was received from the Department of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) database via California's online voter registration. The image provided to the committee shows that half of the voter's signature is missing. According to a county elections official this particular partial signature came from older DMV records. Clearly this is an unintended AB 1135 (MULLIN) Page 4 consequence of the online voter registration, but nevertheless the partial signature provided is the signature on the voter's affidavit of registration that the county elections official must use when comparing signatures. Furthermore, the only way for a voter to update their signature is to fill out a new voter registration form. Using the online voter registration system may not guarantee that the signature on file with DMV is updated, unless the voter has recently applied or renewed their California driver's license or identification card. Otherwise the signature in the DMV's database could be just as outdated as their voter registration affidavit signature. 4. Related Legislation : SB 589 (Hill), among other provisions, 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. SB 589 was recently referred to the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee. PRIOR ACTION Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-2 Assembly Floor: 52-25 POSITIONS Sponsor: Author Support: California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO) California Common Cause Oppose: None received AB 1135 (MULLIN) Page 5