BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1311|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1311
Author: Bradford (D)
Amended: 8/18/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 5-0, 7/2/13
AYES: Torres, Anderson, Hancock, Padilla, Yee
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 3-0, 8/20/14 (Pursuant
to Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: Padilla, Anderson, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Jackson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/13/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Recall elections and voter registration
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes a process for filling a vacancy
in an office that occurs after a recall petition has been filed
against the vacating officer.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/14 permit otherwise qualified
conservatees to receive assistance when filling out an affidavit
of voter registration without jeopardizing their right to vote.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
CONTINUED
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1.Provides that if a vacancy occurs in an office after a recall
petition is filed against the vacating officer, the recall
election shall proceed. The vacancy shall be filled as
provided by law, but any person appointed to fill the vacancy
shall hold office only until a successor is selected and the
successor qualifies for that office.
2.Prohibits a person from being registered as a voter except by
affidavit of registration. If a court finds that a person is
not capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration,
as specified, existing law provides that a person shall be
deemed mentally incompetent and disqualified from voting.
3.Regulates the terms and conditions of conservatorships and
creates various requirements for a court and a court
investigator with regard to informing a proposed conservatee
that he or she may be disqualified from voting if he/she is
not capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration.
This bill:
1.Requires the elections official or officials to verify the
signatures on the recall petition that have been submitted as
of the date of the vacancy.
2.Provides that if a sufficient number of signatures have been
filed for the recall to qualify as of the date of the vacancy,
the recall election shall proceed.
3.Provides that if an insufficient number of signatures or no
signatures were filed for the recall to qualify as of the date
of the vacancy, the recall shall not proceed and the vacancy
shall be filled as provided by law.
4.Provides that a person who is the subject of a recall petition
may not be appointed to fill the vacancy in the office that
he/she vacated nor shall that person be appointed to fill any
other vacancy in office on the same governing board for the
duration of the term of office of the seat that he/she
vacated.
5.Deletes the requirement that any person appointed to fill a
vacancy shall hold the office only until a successor is
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selected.
6.Prohibits a person, including a conservatee, from being
disqualified from voting on the basis that the person signs
the affidavit of voter registration with a mark or a cross,
signs the affidavit of voter registration with a signature
stamp, or completes the affidavit of voter registration with
the assistance of another person.
Background
The question of how existing law would be interpreted regarding
the timing of a vacancy in an office subject to a recall was
raised several times during recall efforts which occurred during
the last few years. Specifically, concern was raised over the
possibility of an officeholder subject to a recall effort
resigning to avoid the recall election then get appointed to
another vacancy on the same governing body.
Prior Legislation
AB 2088 (Adams, 2010), was substantially similar to this bill
except that AB 2088 would have clarified a conflict regarding
the number of signatures that need to be verified using a random
sampling technique when recall petitions are filed. AB 2088 was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto message,
Governor Schwarzenegger said that:
"This bill would limit an important power of direct
democracy by limiting voters' ability to recall an elected
official and elect a replacement. Unfortunately recall
efforts can become punitive rather than a constructive
effort to replace an officeholder; however, the recall
process as a whole is an important component of the
people's right to directly change their government. Under
the provisions of this bill, an official subject to a
recall could resign and allow a successor to take their
place. This limits the ability of the voters to select the
replacement through a recall election."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/13) (Unable to reverify at time of
writing)
Secretary of State
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Secretary of State Debra Bowen writes:
"Current law provides that if an elected official resigns after
a recall petition is filed with the county elections official,
the entire recall process must proceed, including an election to
remove someone who is no longer in office. This is potentially
very expensive for taxpayers who must pay for every election.
"AB 1311 clarifies the process by requiring that if an officer
resigns during the recall qualification process, elections
officials would immediately verify the number of signatures
submitted as of that date. If there were a sufficient number of
valid signatures, the recall election would proceed. If the
number of valid signatures were not sufficient, then the recall
process would end, and the vacancy would be filled as otherwise
provided by law.
"AB 1311 would prohibit the person who was the subject to the
recall petition from resigning and then being appointed to the
vacated office or to any other vacancy in office on the same
governing board during the term of office for the vacated seat.
These provisions prevent misuse of statutes regarding vacancies
in office in an effort to circumvent the recall process."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/13/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,
Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Hagman,
Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Ammiano, Fox, Gorell, Holden,
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Lowenthal, Nestande, Quirk, Vacancy
RM:e 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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