BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 361 (Padilla) - Voter Registration
Amended: April 8, 2013 Policy Vote: E&CA 4-1
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 361 requires the Secretary of State to provide
registration, ballot status, and polling place information on
the SOS Internet Web site; requires agencies that provide voter
registration cards to residents to also provide the SOS with the
applicant's address; and allows the SOS to share voter
information with other states. All of these provisions are
contingent on the implementation of a statewide voter database
(VoteCAL).
Fiscal Impact:
The Secretary of State anticipates costs of $362,000 for
modifications to VoteCal to allow an interstate data
exchange, and $91,000 to allow VoteCal to accept data from
NVRA agencies (HAVA Trust)
Unknown potentially significant costs to local agencies,
reimbursable by mandate (General)
The costs associated with the modifications to VoteCal that
will allow the Secretary of State to share data with other
states include $271,000 for data integration from other states
including both electronic and manual inputs; and $91,000 for
programming the ability to export data in both electronic and
paper formats. Making the required modifications to VoteCal to
enable the SOS to receive voter registration data directly from
agencies designated in the NVRA would cost an additional
$91,000. While these costs may be able to be paid from federal
HAVA funds that the state has received, those funds are limited
and upon their depletion ongoing maintenance costs to VoteCal
will be paid from the state's General Fund. To the extent HAVA
funds are used for purposes not originally identified, the
General Fund pressure will occur sooner rather than later.
SB 361 (Padilla)
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There are 609 NVRA designated agencies that will have to forward
address change information to the Secretary of State. Costs to
agencies to comply with this provision are unknown and will be
dependent on the existing database functions and capabilities
within each agency. Any costs to upgrade or to hire additional
PYs to accommodate this new requirement will be reimbursable
from the General Fund.
Background: The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA),
requires each state to designate agencies for the registration
of voters in elections for federal office including motor
vehicle agency offices, offices that provide public assistance,
offices that provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in
providing services to persons with disabilities, Armed Forces
recruitment offices, and other state and local offices within
the state designated as NVRA voter registration agencies.
Proposed Law: SB 361 does the following:
- Authorizes the SOS, for the purpose of maintaining accurate
voter registration records, to enter into agreements with other
states to share information or data pertaining to voters who
have permanently moved to other states.
- Requires a California voter registration agency to provide
the SOS with information or data pertaining to the applicant's
address for the purpose of maintaining accurate voter
registration records.
- Requires the SOS to provide on his or her Internet Web site
all of the following:
The capability for a vote by mail (VBM) voter to check the
status of the voter's VBM ballot to discover whether the
ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why it was not
counted.
The capability for a voter to find the location of his or
her polling place.
The capability for a voter to check the status of the
voter's registration.
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SB 361 provides that implementation will be contingent upon the
SOS certifying that the state has a statewide voter registration
database that complies with the requirements of the federal Help
America Vote Act of 2002.
Staff Comments: The provisions required in SB 361 relating to
registration and ballot status essentially codify features that
are already anticipated to be included in the new statewide
voter registration database known as VoteCal. The VoteCal
contract was awarded to a vendor on March 13, 2013 and the
project is expected to be completed by the end of June 2016.
However, the provision that authorizes the Secretary of State to
enter into agreements with other states to share information
relating to voters who have permanently moved to other states is
NOT currently a feature that is anticipated in the VoteCal
database. Therefore, modification costs of $362,000 would be
incurred.
SB 361 specifically prohibits the Secretary of State from
providing hyberlinks to county elections officials Websites for
purposes of allowing voters to find out the status of their
registration, if their ballot was counted, or the location of a
voters polling place.
Recommended Amendments: On Page 3, Line 15, after "data" insert
the following:
"... data , in a standard format compatible with the statewide
voter database maintained under section 303 of the Help America
Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483), pertaining..."
Without this amendment data interface with hundreds of NVRA
agencies would have a large, but unknown cost.
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