Amended in Assembly August 20, 2014

Amended in Assembly August 11, 2014

Amended in Assembly June 27, 2013

Amended in Assembly June 10, 2013

Amended in Senate March 6, 2013

Senate Bill No. 29

Introduced by Senator Correa

(Coauthor: Senator Steinberg)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members begin delete Fong and Lowenthal) end delete begin insert Fong, Lowenthal, and Mullin) end insert

December 3, 2012

An act to amend Sections 3020, 3117, 4103, 15101, and 15372 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 29, as amended, Correa. Vote by mail ballots and election result statements.

(1) Existing law makes the vote by mail ballot available to any registered voter, including military or overseas voters. Existing law requires that those vote by mail ballots, including those vote by mail ballots cast by military or overseas voters, be received by the elections officials from whom they were obtained or by the precinct boards before the polls close on election day in order to be counted.

Existing law authorizes certain local, special, or consolidated elections to be conducted wholly by mail, so long as specified conditions are satisfied. Existing law requires ballots cast in these vote by mail elections to be returned to the elections official from whom they were obtained no later than 8 p.m. on election day.

This bill would, notwithstanding the above provisions, provide that any vote by mail ballot, including any vote by mail ballot cast by a military or overseas voter, is timely cast if it is received by the voter’s elections official via the United States Postal Service or a bona fide private mail delivery company no later than 3 days after election day, and either the ballot is postmarked on or before election day or is time stamped or date stamped by a bona fide private mail delivery company on or before election day or, if the ballot has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or an illegible postmark, the vote by mail ballot identification envelope is date stamped by the elections official upon receipt and is signed and dated by the voter on or before election day.

Because the bill would expand the duties of local elections officials, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law permits any jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are cast to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes 29 days prior to election, and authorizes any jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots 7 business days prior to the election.

This bill would instead authorize any jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots 10 business days prior to the election.

(3) Existing law requires the elections official to prepare a certified statement of the results of the election and submit it to the governing body within 28 days of the election, except for specified elections.

This bill would instead require the elections official to submit the certified statement of the results of the election to the governing body within 30 days of the election.

begin insert

(4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 15101 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 2530, to be operative only if AB 2530 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective January 1, 2015, and this bill is chaptered last.

end insert begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 3020 of the Elections Code is amended
to read:

3020.  

(a) All vote by mail ballots cast under this division shall
be received by the elections official from whom they were obtained
or by the precinct board no later than the close of the polls on
election day.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any vote by mail ballot
cast under this division shall be timely cast if it is received by the
voter’s elections official via the United States Postal Service or a
bona fide private mail delivery company no later than three days
after election day and either of the following is satisfied:

(1) The ballot is postmarked on or before election day or is time
stamped or date stamped by a bona fide private mail delivery
company on or before election day.

(2) If the ballot has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or
an illegible postmark, the vote by mail ballot identification
envelope is date stamped by the elections official upon receipt of
the vote by mail ballot from the United States Postal Service or a
bona fide private mail delivery company, and is signed and dated
pursuant to Section 3011 on or before election day.

SEC. 2.  

Section 3117 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

3117.  

A valid ballot cast shall be counted if it is received by
the elections official in accordance with Section 3020.

SEC. 3.  

Section 4103 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

4103.  

(a) Notwithstanding Section 3020, ballots cast under
this chapter shall be returned to the elections official from whom
they were obtained no later than 8 p.m. on election day.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any vote by mail ballot
cast under this chapter shall be timely cast if it is received by the
voter’s elections official via the United States Postal Service or a
bona fide private mail delivery company no later than three days
after election day and either of the following is satisfied:

(1) The ballot is postmarked on or before election day or is time
stamped or date stamped by a bona fide private mail delivery
company on or before election day.

(2) If the ballot has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or
an illegible postmark, the vote by mail ballot identification
envelope is date stamped by the elections official upon receipt of
the vote by mail ballot from the United States Postal Service or a
bona fide private mail delivery company, and is signed and dated
pursuant to Section 3011 on or before election day.

SEC. 4.  

Section 15101 of the Elections Code is amended to
read:

15101.  

(a) Any jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are
cast may begin to process vote by mail ballot return envelopes
beginning 29 days before the election. Processing vote by mail
ballot return envelopes may include verifying the voter’s signature
on the vote by mail ballot return envelope and updating voter
history records.

(b) Any jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability
may start to process vote by mail ballots on the 10th business day
begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert the election. Processing vote by mail ballots includes
opening vote by mail ballot return envelopes, removing ballots,
duplicating any damaged ballots, and preparing the ballots to be
machine read, or machine reading them, but under no circumstances
may a vote count be accessed or released until 8 p.m. on the day
of the election. All other jurisdictions shall start to process vote
by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the election.

(c) Results of any vote by mail ballot tabulation or count shall
not be released begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert the close of the polls on the day of
the election.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 4.5. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 15101 of the end insert begin insert Elections Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

15101.  

(a) Any jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are
cast may begin to process vote by mail ballot return envelopes
beginning 29 days before the election. Processing vote by mail
ballot return envelopes may include verifying the voter’s signature
on the vote by mail ballot return envelope begin insert pursuant to Section
3019 end insert and updating voter history records.

(b) Any jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability
may start to process vote by mail ballots on the begin delete seventh end delete begin insert 10th end insert
business day begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert the election. Processing vote by mail
ballots includes opening vote by mail ballot return envelopes,
removing ballots, duplicating any damaged ballots, and preparing
the ballots to be machine read, or machine reading them, but under
no circumstances may a vote count be accessed or released until
8 p.m. on the day of the election. All other jurisdictions shall start
to process vote by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the
election.

(c) Results of any vote by mail ballot tabulation or count shall
not be released begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert the close of the polls on the day of
the election.

begin delete

SEC. 5.  

Section 15372 of the Elections Code is amended to
read:

15372.  

The elections official shall prepare a certified statement
of the results of the election and submit it to the governing body
within 30 days of the election or, in the case of school district,
community college district, county board of education, or special
district elections conducted on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November of odd-numbered years, no later than the
last Monday before the last Friday of that month.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 15372 of the end insert begin insert Elections Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

15372.  

(a) The elections official shall prepare a certified
statement of the results of the election and submit it to the
governing body within begin delete 28 end delete begin insert 30 end insert days of the election or, in the case
of school district, community college district, county board of
education, or special district elections conducted on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of odd-numbered
years, no later than the last Monday before the last Friday of that
month.

(b) The elections official shall post the certified statement of
the results of the election on his or her Internet Web site in a
downloadable spreadsheet format that may include, but is not
limited to, a comma-separated values file or a tab-separated values
file and that is compatible with a spreadsheet software application
that is widely used at the time of the posting. The certified
statement of the election results shall be posted and maintained on
the elections official’s Internet Web site for a period of at least 10
years following the election. This subdivision shall apply only to
an elections official who uses a computer system that has the
capability of producing the election results in a downloadable
spreadsheet format without requiring modification of the computer
system.

SEC. 6.  

Counties may continue to use envelopes and other
official election materials that do not take into account the
provisions of this act until the supply of those envelopes and other
official election materials is exhausted.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 7. end insert   

end insert begin insert

Section 4.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 15101 of the Elections Code proposed by both this bill
and Assembly Bill 2530. It shall only become operative if (1) both
bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1,
2015, (2) each bill amends Section 15101 of the Elections Code,
and (3) this bill is enacted after Assembly Bill 2530, in which case
Section 4 of this bill shall not become operative.

end insert

begin delete SEC. 7. end delete
begin insert SEC. 8. end insert   

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.