BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1589
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 1, 2014

                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
                                  Paul Fong, Chair
                 AB 1589 (Frazier) - As Introduced:  February 3, 2014
          
          SUBJECT  :   Military or overseas voters: electronic ballots.

           SUMMARY  :   Deletes provisions of law that require a military or  
          overseas voter's electronic mail address to expire no later than  
          December 31 of the year following the calendar year of the  
          application and instead requires an elections official to  
          provide for electronic delivery of a ballot to a military or  
          overseas voter who makes a standing request for all elections  
          conducted in the jurisdiction in which he or she is eligible to  
          vote.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires each elections official to have a system available  
            which allows a military or overseas voter to electronically  
            request and receive a vote by mail (VBM) application, an  
            unvoted ballot, and other information.

          2)Requires elections officials to request an electronic mail  
            address from each military or overseas voter who registers, as  
            specified.  Permits a military or overseas voter who provides  
            an email address to request that his or her application for a  
            ballot be considered a standing request for electronic  
            delivery of a ballot for all elections held through December  
            31 of the year following the calendar year of the date of the  
            application or another shorter period as specified by the  
            voter.  

          3)Requires elections officials to send VBM ballots by means of  
            transmission (mail, facsimile, or electronic transmission)  
            requested by a qualified military or overseas voter.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.  State-mandated local program; contains  
          reimbursement direction.

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Purpose of the Bill  :  According to the author: 
           







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               Members of the military and other U.S. citizens living  
               overseas are allowed to receive their voter information and  
               blank, unvoted ballots by mail, fax, or email. For voters  
               who request their ballot by mail or by fax, that request is  
               considered to be a standing request for each election until  
               such time that the voter changes their preference or does  
               not vote in a certain number of regularly scheduled  
               statewide elections.

               However, voters who request their ballot be emailed to them  
               are treated differently because under state law, a voter's  
               request to receive a ballot by email is only good for two  
               years.  Only military and overseas voters who request their  
               ballot by email are subject to this "expiration" of their  
               ballot delivery address.

               For some members of the U.S. military serving overseas, an  
               email address may be their most effective method of contact  
               with an elections official. If state law continues to  
               require that the email addresses of overseas soldiers must  
               be renewed every two years, it is likely that some of the  
               people who put their lives on the line for democracy will  
               be disenfranchised when their email address expires. No  
               other address provided for ballot delivery automatically  
               expires unless that expiration is specifically requested by  
               the voter.   

               AB 1589 removes the "email expiration" language from state  
               law, allowing a request for ballot delivery to stand for as  
               long as the military or overseas voter is eligible for  
               email delivery of their ballot. It simply makes no sense to  
               disenfranchise the brave men and women serving our country  
               overseas with a rule that makes it more difficult for them  
               to receive and cast their ballots in a timely fashion.

           2)Background  :  In 2012, the Legislature passed and the Governor  
            signed AB 1805 (Huffman), Chapter 744, Statutes of 2012, which  
            was a uniform law that established new voting procedures for  
            military and overseas voters and was written in a way that it  
            could be applicable in multiple states that have different  
            election procedures.  AB 1805 was an effort to address the  
            lack of uniformity between states regarding the ability of  
            overseas and military voters to vote in state and local  
            elections, which complicates efforts to more fully enfranchise  
            those voters.  However, applying a uniform law across states  







                                                                  AB 1589
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            can be complicated and unintended consequences can occur.   
            This bill seeks to address such a situation and address a  
            uniform provision of law that could unintentionally result in  
            the disenfranchisement of military or overseas voters.

          This bill eliminates a provision of law that requires a military  
            and overseas voter to renew his or her request to receive  
            voter information and a blank, unvoted ballot by email every  
            two years.  Under existing law, a military or overseas voter  
            that requests his or her ballot be transmitted via mail or  
            facsimile is not subject to the same requirements.  As a  
            result, if a military or overseas voter requests that his or  
            her ballot be received via mail or facsimile, that request is  
            considered to be a standing request for each election until  
            such time that the voter changes their preference or does not  
            vote in a certain number of regularly scheduled statewide  
            elections, as specified.  Prior to the passage of AB 1805  
            state law did not require an expiration date to apply to  
            requests to receive a VBM ballot via electronic transmission.   
            This bill, which eliminates the requirement for a military or  
            overseas voter to renew their request to receive a VBM ballot  
            via email every two years, will ensure all requests from  
            military and overseas voters to receive VBM ballots are  
            treated the same.   
           
           3)Arguments in Support  :  The sponsor of this bill, Secretary of  
            State Debra Bowen, writes:

               Californians in the military or living overseas are  
               eligible to vote when they are serving or living out of the  
               country.  Many military and overseas voters, especially  
               those who are serving in combat, do not have a stable  
               physical address where they can receive their ballots.  Due  
               to the challenges these voters face in receiving mail in a  
               timely fashion, California law allows them to receive their  
               voter information and unvoted ballot by mail, fax, or  
               electronic mail (email).

               However, voters who request their ballot be emailed to them  
               are treated differently than other voters because under  
               state law, a voter's request to receive a ballot by email  
               is good for only two years.  Only military and overseas  
               voters who request their ballot by email are subject to  
               this "expiration" of their ballot delivery address.  There  
               is no reason California should risk disenfranchising an  







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               overseas member by treating him or her differently than  
               other voters. 

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Secretary of State Debra Bowen (sponsor)

          Opposition 
           
          None on file. 
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)  
          319-2094