BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 29 HEARING DATE: 3/19/13
AUTHOR: CORREA ANALYSIS BY:DARREN CHESIN
AMENDED: 3/6/13
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Vote by mail ballots: postmarks
DESCRIPTION
Existing law provides that a vote by mail (VBM) ballot must
be received by the elections official from whom it was
obtained, or by a precinct board in that jurisdiction, no
later than the close of polls on Election Day in order for
that ballot to be counted.
Existing law requires a VBM ballot identification envelope
(return envelope) to include specified information,
including the signature of the voter and the date of
signing.
Existing law requires elections officials to prepare a
certified statement of the results of an election and to
submit that statement to the appropriate governing body
within 28 days of the election.
This bill would further provide that a VBM ballot shall be
counted if it is received by the elections official from
whom it was obtained no later than three days after
Election Day and either of the following is satisfied:
The ballot is postmarked on or before Election Day or is
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 VBM ballot identification
envelope is signed and dated on or before Election Day.
This bill would also extend the deadline for elections
officials to prepare a certified statement of the results
of an election from 28 days after the election to 31 days
after the election.
BACKGROUND
VBM Ballot Deadlines in Other States : Each state has its
own deadlines for the return of mail ballots. In some
states, the deadline varies depending on whether the
individual submitting the ballot is a civilian living in
the United States (U.S.), or a military or overseas voter
covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee
Voting Act (UOCAVA).
According to information from the National Association of
Secretaries of State, three states require mail ballots
from civilians living in the U.S. to be returned prior to
Election Day in order to be counted, while 36 states
(including California) require such ballots to be received
by Election Day. Eleven states and the District of
Columbia allow mail ballots from civilians living in the US
to arrive after Election Day and still be counted as long
as the ballot is postmarked (or in some cases, signed and
dated) by Election Day.
For active duty military and overseas citizens who are
covered under UOCAVA, one state requires mail ballots to be
returned prior to Election Day in order to be counted, and
32 states (including California) require ballots to be
received by Election Day. Seventeen states and the
District of Columbia allow mail ballots from voters who are
covered under UOCAVA to arrive after Election Day and still
be counted. Most of those states require the ballot to be
postmarked (or in some cases, signed and dated) by Election
Day.
2010 Primary Election Ballots in Riverside County : In
Riverside County, 12,563 VBM ballots were discovered at a
local post office the day after the June 8, 2010 Statewide
Primary Election. These ballots were eventually accepted
by the county elections official, but only after a superior
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court judge ruled that they should be counted. In this
instance, the voters had mailed their ballots in time for
normal delivery but county elections officials, who
previously and routinely visited certain post offices to
collect VBM ballots, did not visit the post office that
actually had these ballots. While a plain reading of the
applicable statute would have resulted in these ballots
being rejected, the presiding judge ordered that the
ballots be counted based on a provision of the California
Constitution which reads "A voter who casts a vote in an
election in accordance with the laws of this State shall
have that vote counted."
COMMENTS
1.According to the author , last year, the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee and the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee held a
joint oversight hearing to discuss recent and forthcoming
USPS facility closures and the impact on voters. During
the hearing, state and county elections officials
testified about the impact that recent post office and
processing facility closures had on their jurisdictions
and on local elections, as well as the anticipated
challenges with more closures expected. Last month
(February, 2013), the USPS announced that normal Saturday
mail delivery will cease.
One of the most significant impacts the USPS actions have
had on the election process is that there have been
significant delays in mail delivery in some
circumstances. Elections officials from counties that
were previously served by closed facilities indicated
that some first class mail took five to seven days to
arrive after closures of USPS facilities, compared to the
usual delivery time of one to three days. Ceasing
Saturday mail delivery will only exacerbate this problem.
Existing law requires a voted VBM ballot to be received by
either the elections official who issued the ballot or a
polling place in the county before the closing of the
polls on Election Day. Due to the USPS actions however,
voters who mail their ballots within a reasonable
timeframe could, through no fault of their own, find
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themselves disenfranchised due to delays in mail
delivery.
This bill seeks to mitigate the negative impacts of USPS
decisions and to protect voters' right to vote by
allowing ballots that are postmarked or signed and dated
by Election Day to be counted, as long as those ballots
are received by the elections official by the third day
after the election.
2.Related Legislation : SB 348 (Correa) and AB 562 (Fong)
of the 2011-2012 legislative session were similar to this
bill. SB 348 was approved by this committee but
subsequently held on the Senate Appropriations
Committee's suspense file. AB 562, an urgency measure,
was approved by the Senate on a bipartisan vote but
failed to get the necessary 2/3 vote for concurrence in
the Senate amendments on the Assembly floor.
3.Certification Extension . Both the Secretary of State and
the California League of Women Voters have indicated that
they would be in support of this bill if it were amended
to delete the provision that extends from 28 to 31 days
the deadline by which election officials must prepare a
certified statement of the results of an election.
Author's staff indicates that they are in discussions
with the interested parties in an effort to resolve this
issue.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
California Common Cause
CALPIRG
Rural County Representatives of California
Oppose: None received
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