BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
44
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 44 Author: Yee
As Introduced: December 12, 2012
Hearing Date: April 9, 2013
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
State Internet Web sites: online voter registration
DESCRIPTION
SB 44 requires that each Internet website maintained by the
state include a hyperlink to the Secretary of State's
(SOS's) online voter registration Internet website.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law provides that a person who is qualified to
register to vote and who has a valid California driver's
license or state identification card may submit an
affidavit of voter registration electronically on the SOS's
Internet website.
Existing federal law, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of
2002 required all states to implement a single, uniform,
centralized, computerized statewide voter registration list
and to define, maintain, and administer the list at the
state level.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of SB 44: According to the author's office,
California's online voter registration law became effective
last year and gave the people of California the ability to
register to vote through the SOS website. The author's
office claims that the online registration option has been
utilized by over 1 million people - many of whom were
registering to vote for the first time. A number of
counties also reported a significantly higher turnout rate
SB 44 (Yee) continued
Page 2
for individuals that registered to vote online in last
November's elections. The author's office maintains that
such success in a short amount of time is strong evidence
that more people are likely to register to vote and
potentially participate in elections if it is made easier
for them to do so. The author's office points out that
many Californians are still unaware that the online voter
registration option exists - thus, extending the voter
registration link to every state website will not only
ensure that millions of Californians see the link but also
help promote the online voter registration system.
Comments: As defined by wiseGEEK.org, a hyperlink is a
graphic or a piece of text in an Internet document that can
connect readers to another webpage, or another portion of a
document. Web users will usually find at least one
hyperlink on every webpage. The simplest form of these is
called embedded text or an embedded link. In this
instance, a hyperlink will show up as a single word or
group of words that will usually be marked as underlined,
and are frequently blue in color.
According to staff with the SOS, anyone wishing to link to
the Secretary of State's online voter registration website
may do so with a hyperlink to the online voter registration
webpage, or they may use a graphical button which links to
that webpage. The Secretary's Internet website provides
the HTML code needed to insert a graphical button for
linking to the online voter registration webpage. The HTML
language pulls the graphic image of a button from the
Secretary's website, displays it on the webpage, and
activates a link when a user clicks on the button.
Although staff was unable to determine the exact number of
state maintained websites already providing a hyperlink,
the Governor, Department of Finance, Health and Human
Services Agency, California Gambling Control Commission,
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, as well as
several Senators all currently have a homepage hyperlink
button to the SOS's online voter registration page.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 35 (Padilla), Chapter 505, Statutes of 2012. Added the
California Health Benefit Exchange to the list of public
assistance agencies required by the National Voter
SB 44 (Yee) continued
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Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to provide voter
registration opportunities; also, codified various other
provisions of the Act.
SB 397 (Yee), Chapter 561, Statutes of 2011. Authorized
the SOS, in conjunction with the California Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV), to implement online voter
registration prior to the completion of a new statewide
voter registration database (known as VoteCal).
AB 1357 (Swanson), Chapter 192, Statutes of 2011. Among
other things, required
the SOS in consultation with county elections officials, to
design and make available on his/her Internet website an
affidavit of registration.
AB 896 (Portantino) 2011-12 Session. Would have allowed
county election officials to accept voter registration
affidavits that are signed with digital signatures and
transmitted electronically. (Failed passage in Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee)
SUPPORT: As of April 5, 2013:
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California Common Cause
California Church Impact
California Nurses Association
California Teachers Association
CALPIRG
League of Women Voters of California
OPPOSE: None on file as of April 5, 2013.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee