BILL NUMBER: SB 589	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 4, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Mullin)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to  amend Section 3019 of, and to  add Section
13305 to,  and to repeal and add Section 3019 of 
the Elections Code, relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 589, as amended, Hill. Vote by mail ballots: sample ballots.
   Existing law sets forth procedures for voting by mail and requires
the local elections official to compare the signature on the
identification envelope of a vote by mail ballot with the voter's
signature that appears on his or her affidavit of registration. If
the signatures compare, existing law requires the elections official
to deposit the ballot in a ballot container. If the ballot is
rejected because the signatures do not compare, existing law requires
that the ballot not be counted and that the cause of the rejection
be written on the face of the identification envelope. Existing law
also requires the elections official to establish procedures to track
and confirm the receipt of vote by mail ballots that are voted and
to make that information available by means of online access using
the county's elections division Internet Web site, or, if it has no
Internet Web site, by a toll-free telephone number that may be used
to confirm the date the ballot was received.
    This bill would permit the county elections official to
compare the signature on the identification envelope of a vote by
mail ballot with the signature that appears on the voter's current or
previous affidavit of registration on file with the elections
official.  This bill would require the  county 
elections official to establish a free access system by which a vote
by mail voter may learn whether his or her ballot was counted and, if
not, the reason why it was not counted. This bill would require the
elections official to make the free access system available to a vote
by mail voter  for at least 30 days immediately following
the   upon  completion of the official canvass 
and for 30 days thereafter  .
   By requiring elections officials to provide a higher level of
service, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   Existing law requires the appropriate elections official to
prepare sample ballots for each election and to cause to be printed
at least as many copies of the sample ballot as there are voters in
each voting precinct. Existing law requires the elections official to
mail a sample ballot to each voter who registered at least 29 days
prior to the election.
   This bill would permit the elections official to elect not to mail
a sample ballot to a voter if specified conditions are satisfied.
For each voter to whom the elections official elects not to mail a
sample ballot, this bill would permit the elections official to cause
to be printed one less copy of the sample ballot.
   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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   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 3019 of the Elections Code
is repealed.  
  SEC. 2.    Section 3019 is added to the Elections
Code, to read:
   3019.  (a) Upon receipt of a vote by mail ballot, the county
elections official shall compare the signature on the identification
envelope with any of the following to determine whether the
signatures compare:
   (1) The signature appearing on the voter's current or previous
affidavit of registration on file with the elections official.
   (2) The signature appearing on the voter's vote by mail ballot
application, provided the elections official has compared the
signature on the voter's vote by mail ballot application with the
signature on the voter's affidavit of registration pursuant to
Section 3009.
   (b) In comparing signatures pursuant to subdivision (a), the
elections official may use the duplicate file of affidavits of
registered voters or facsimiles of voters' signatures, provided that
the method of preparing and displaying the facsimiles complies with
the law.
   (c) The variation of a signature caused by the substitution of
initials for the first or middle name, or both, shall not be grounds
for the elections official to determine that the signatures do not
compare.
   (d) A ballot shall not be removed from its identification envelope
until the time for processing ballots. A ballot shall not be
rejected for cause after the identification envelope has been opened.

   (e) (1) If, upon conducting the comparison of signatures pursuant
to subdivision (a), the elections official determines that the
signatures compare, he or she shall deposit the ballot, still in the
identification envelope, in a ballot container in his or her office.
   (2) If, upon conducting the comparison of signatures pursuant to
subdivision (a), the elections official determines that the
signatures do not compare, the identification envelope shall not be
opened and the ballot shall not be counted. The cause of the
rejection shall be written on the face of the identification
envelope.
   (f) The county elections official shall establish a free access
system that allows a vote by mail voter to learn whether his or her
vote by mail ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the
ballot was not counted. For each election, the elections official
shall make the free access system available to a vote by mail voter
for at least 30 days immediately following the completion of the
official canvass. 
   SECTION 1.    Section 3019 of the  
Elections Code   is amended to read: 
   3019.   (a)    Upon receipt of the vote by mail
ballot  ,  the elections official shall compare the
signature on the envelope with that appearing on the affidavit of
registration and, if they compare, deposit the ballot, still in the
identification envelope, in a ballot container in his or her office.
A variation of the signature caused by the substitution of initials
for the first or middle name, or both, shall not invalidate the
ballot. If the ballot is rejected because the signatures do not
compare, the envelope shall not be opened and the ballot shall not be
counted. The cause of the rejection shall be written on the face of
the identification envelope. 
   If 
    (b)     If  the elections official has
compared the signature of the voter's application with the affidavit
pursuant to Section 3009, the application may be used rather than
the affidavit to make the signature check required by this section.

   No 
    (c)     A  ballot shall  not 
be removed from its identification envelope until the time for
processing.  No   A  ballot shall  not
 be rejected for cause after the envelope has been opened.

   In 
    (d)     In  determining from the
records of registration if the signature and residence address on the
identification envelope appear to be the same as that
  those  on the affidavit of registration, the
elections official or registrar of voters may use the duplicate file
of affidavits of registered voters or the facsimiles of voters'
signatures, provided that the method of preparing and displaying the
facsimiles complies with the law. 
   (e) The county elections official shall establish a free access
system that allows a vote by mail voter to learn whether his or her
vote by mail ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the
ballot was not counted. For each election, the elections official
shall make the free access system available to a vote by mail voter
upon completion of the official canvass and for 30 days thereafter.

   SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.   Section 13305 is
added to the Elections Code, to read:
   13305.  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 13300 and 13303, a county
elections official may elect not to mail a sample ballot to a voter
if all of the following are satisfied:
   (1) The voter is one of the following:
   (A) A permanent vote by mail voter pursuant to Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 3200) of Division 3.
   (B) A voter in a mail ballot election conducted pursuant to
Division 4 (commencing with Section 4000).
   (C) A voter in a precinct in which an election is conducted
pursuant to Section 3005.
   (2) The county elections official prepares and mails to each voter
a voter information guide. The voter information guide shall include
all of the information required to be included in, and shall be
accompanied by all the election materials required to accompany, the
sample ballot, except for both of the following:
   (A) An application for a vote by mail ballot.
   (B) A notice that a vote by mail ballot application is enclosed.
   (3) The voter is furnished with an official ballot pursuant to
Section 3005 or 3010.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 13303, for each
voter to whom the elections official elects not to mail a sample
ballot pursuant to subdivision (a), the elections official may cause
to be printed one less copy of the sample ballot.
   SEC. 4.   SEC. 3.   No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because this act provides for offsetting
savings to local agencies or school districts that result in no net
costs to the local agencies or school districts, within the meaning
of Section 17556 of the Government Code.