BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1419 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 1419 (Elections Committee) - As Amended: April 30, 2013 Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0 (Consent) Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill establishes a process for a political body to qualify as a political party for the purposes of having that party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates appear on the presidential general election ballot. FISCAL EFFECT Negligible fiscal impact to county elections officials and to the Secretary of State (SOS). COMMENTS Background and Purpose . Existing law requires a political body to qualify as a political party 135 days before the primary election if it wishes to place candidates on the ballot, even if the party only wants to participate in the presidential general election. Because California currently holds its primary elections in June, this policy effectively requires a political body to meet the qualification threshold by January in order to have its Presidential candidate appear on the general election ballot. Last year, two political bodies that were attempting to qualify as political parties filed a lawsuit against the SOS challenging the above deadline, alleging the early deadline violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The US District Court agreed, and enjoined the SOS from enforcing the requirement described above. The Court refused, however, to impose an alternative deadline. AB 1419 Page 2 AB 1419, introduced at the request of the Secretary of State, establishes new deadlines. Under this bill, the deadline for a political party to qualify to have its candidate appear on the presidential general election ballot would be 102 days before the general election if the party is qualifying based on the number of voters who registered with that political party, or 135 days before the presidential general election if the party is qualifying based on signatures contained on a petition. These deadlines were established because they fall sufficiently in advance of deadlines for printing the voter information guide and ballots to allow elections officials to prepare those materials. Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081