BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Kevin de León, Chair SB 360 (Padilla) - Voting Systems Amended: April 10, 2013 Policy Vote: E&CA 4-1 Urgency: No Mandate: No Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: SB 360 authorizes a county to conduct a pilot program for the experimental use of a voting system, and requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to adopt and publish regulations governing the pilot program. Fiscal Impact: One-time costs of $75,000 to Secretary of State (HAVA Trust) Costs to the SOS consist of $65,000 to adopt regulations for voting systems testing to replace the federal Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) certification and EAC testing agency certification. Costs to approve testing agencies for voting systems testing done in compliance with the new regulations could vary, however if the EAC Voting Systems Testing Laboratory Accreditation Program is mimicked, those costs would be a little as $10,000. It is likely that available Help American Vote Act (HAVA) funds could be used for these activities. The costs for the actual testing of voting systems will be paid by the entity submitting a voting system for testing. Background: Existing law establishes various procedures and criteria for the approval by the Secretary of State (SOS) of voting systems, including ballot marking systems, to be used in elections. A voting system and any modification to a voting system must be approved by the SOS before it can be used in any election. Electronic voting systems must be certified at the federal level by the U.S. EAC before they can be submitted to the SOS's office for review. In April 2003, California received $265 million in Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds; including $75 million for new voting SB 360 (Padilla) Page 1 equipment and $40 million for a new statewide voter database. These voting equipment funds were distributed to each county beginning in 2004. California counties were then authorized to purchase a new voting system. Nearly all California counties purchased their voting systems from five different vendors. The vendors offered a variety of systems and upgrades resulting in a patchwork of technologies throughout California. In addition, the vendors considered their technology intellectual property, thereby limiting public access to both the operating software and hardware. Los Angeles County is the only county that uses the InkaVote Plus and Microcomputer Tally Systems, and did not purchase a new system because they could not identify one that met their unique needs. In 2009, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) launched the Voting Systems Assessment Project (VSAP) with the goal of developing its own voting system. Los Angeles County would be the first county in the U.S. to develop, own and operate its own voting system. Proposed Law: SB 360 does the following: a) Requires the Secretary of State to adopt and publish regulations governing pilot programs for the experimental use of voting systems. b) Authorizes the SOS to certify or conditionally approve the use of a new voting system. c) Authorizes a person, corporation, or public agency to acquire a voting system and apply to the SOS for certification that includes testing and examination of the applicant's system by a state-approved testing agency. d) Requires the SOS to publish and make available on his or her Internet Website a quarterly report of regulatory activities related to voting systems. e) Requires the SOS to provide a 30 day public review period (in addition to the already required public hearing) prior to publishing his or her decision to certify, conditionally approve, or withhold certification of a voting system. SB 360 (Padilla) Page 2 f) Extends the period of time that the SOS has to make its report publicly available after completing the examination of a voting system from 30 days to 60 days. g) Provides that if more than one voting system is used to count ballots, the names of candidates shall be placed on the primary voting system. h) Authorizes a county to use a publicly owned voting system in a pilot program held at an election in one or more precincts. i) Makes numerous technical and conforming changes to the Certification of Voting Systems code sections. Staff Comments: In order for L. A. County to fully implement a state-approved system before the November 2016 election, a prototype system must be developed and manufactured before the Fall of 2015 in order that it may be piloted in the November 2015 elections. There is currently about $27 million remaining of Section 301 HAVA funds that are available for voting systems which could be used by L. A. County, and $48 million unspent from Proposition 41 funds that are available to L. A. County for a voting system. Additionally, eliminating the requirement that counties get federal approval before state certification will save counties millions of dollars. Staff Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends that Sec. 68 (which repeals Elections Code Section 19252) be removed from SB 360 to avoid the possibility that the state's General Fund will be used for the purchase of Direct Electronic Recording Systems.