BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1419
Author: Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee
Amended: 8/19/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND.COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/18/13
AYES: Hancock, Padilla, Yee, Torres
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Presidential general elections: party
qualifications
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes a process for a political body
to qualify as a political party for the purposes of having that
partys Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates appear on
the presidential general election ballot.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/13 provide the definition for
electronic data file and add legislative intent.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1. Provides that a political party is qualified to participate
in a primary election under specified conditions.
2. Requires county elections officials to send a summary
statement of the number of voters in the county to the
Secretary of State (SOS) at specified times.
3. Requires each political party to have its qualifications
reviewed by the SOS upon the occurrence of the gubernatorial
election and further provides that a party that does not meet
the standards for qualification, as described above, shall be
prohibited from participating in any primary election.
4. Requires a party that loses qualification, but seeks to
regain that qualification, to file a notice with the SOS
indicating that it intends to regain qualification.
5. Provides that no party shall be recognized or qualified to
participate in any primary election if the party either
directly or indirectly carries on, advocates, teaches,
justifies, aids, or abets the overthrow by any unlawful means
of, or directly or indirectly carries on, advocates, teaches,
justifies, aides, or abets a program of sabotage, force and
violence, sedition or treason against, the government of the
United States or of California.
6. Requires the SOS, with the advice and consent of the
Attorney General, to determine which parties are disqualified
pursuant to these provisions.
This bill:
1. Provides that a political party is qualified to participate
in a presidential general election if either of the following
conditions is met:
A. If, on or before the 102nd day before a presidential
general election, it appears to the SOS, as a result of
examining and totaling the statement of voters and their
political affiliations transmitted to the SOS by county
elections officials, that voters equal in number to at
least 1% of the entire vote of the state at the last
preceding gubernatorial election have declared their
intention to affiliate with that party; or,
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B. If, on or before the 135th day before a presidential
general election, there is filed with the SOS a petition
signed by voters equal in number to 10% of the entire vote
of the state at the last preceding gubernatorial election,
declaring that they represent a proposed party, the name
of which shall be stated in the petition, which proposed
party those voters desire to have participate in the
presidential general election.
2. Requires county elections officials to send a summary
statement of the number of voters in the county to the SOS
not less than 102 days prior to each presidential general
election with respect to voters registered before the 123rd
day before the presidential general election.
3. Requires a group of electors that are attempting to qualify
a new political party to indicate on a specified notice to
the SOS whether those electors intend to qualify the party
for the next primary election or the next presidential
general election.
4. Provides that a political party that qualifies pursuant to
the above procedure to participate in a presidential general
election does not have the ability to use the general
election ballot for the purpose of electing state party or
county central committee officers.
5. Defines "electronic data file" as either a magnetic tape or a
data file in an alternative electronic format, at the
discretion of the county elections official.
6. States that it is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
this bill, to comply with the holding of the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California in California
Justice Committee v. Bowen, by requiring county elections
officials to send to the SOS an additional summary statement
of the voters in the county in order to allow the SOS to
determine which political parties are qualified to
participate in each presidential general election.
Background
Existing law requires a political body to qualify as a political
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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
1st and 14th Amendment rights. The U.S. District Court agreed,
and enjoined the SOS from enforcing the requirement described
above. The Court refused, however, to impose an alternative
deadline.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/13)
Secretary of State
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, recent
court action holds that requiring political bodies seeking to
become political parties to qualify prior to the presidential
primary election even if they have no intention of taking part
in that election, is not appropriate. Instead, a court
determined that a separate process must be established to allow
political bodies that only want to take part in the presidential
general election to qualify as political parties closer to the
November election. This bill accomplishes that goal and
promotes the values of democracy, fairness, and ballot access in
an equitable way.
This bill establishes a new deadline for political bodies that
are seeking to become qualified political parties for the
purposes of having a candidate appear on the presidential
general election ballot. Under the provisions of 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
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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 accordingly.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-0, 5/16/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Roger Hern�ndez, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,
Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy
RM:k 8/21/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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