BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  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