BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 589| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 589 Author: Hill (D) Amended: 4/1/13 Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND. COMM. : 4-1, 4/2/13 AYES: Correa, Hancock, Padilla, Yee NOES: Anderson SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/15/13 AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NOES: Walters, Gaines SUBJECT : Vote by mail ballots: sample ballots SOURCE : Secretary of State DIGEST : This bill requires county election officials to offer a free access system whereby vote-by-mail (VBM) voters can learn whether their ballot was counted, authorizes elections officials to compare signatures to previous affidavits on file, and also authorizes the counties to elect not to mail sample ballots under specified conditions. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1. Outlines procedures for VBM and establishes requirements for elections officials to compare the signature on a VBM ballot CONTINUED SB 589 Page 2 envelope with that appearing on the affidavit of registration. 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 must be written on the face of the identification envelope. 2. Requires elections officials to establish procedures to track and confirm the receipt of VBM ballots and to make this information available by means of online access using the county's elections division Internet Web site. If the county does not have an elections division Internet Web site, the elections official shall establish a toll-free telephone number that may be used to confirm the date a voted VBM ballot was received. 3. Requires the Secretary of State to establish a free access system to allow any voter who casts a provisional ballot to determine whether his/her provisional ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why it was not counted. 4. Provides that in order to facilitate the timely production and distribution of sample ballots, the county elections official may prepare a combined sample ballot, which also contains the voter information guide (VIG). This bill: 1. Requires each county elections official to establish a free access system that allows a VBM voter to learn whether his/her ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the ballot was not counted. The free access system must be available to voters for at least 30 days immediately following the completion of the official canvass. 2. Allows the counties to elect not to mail a sample ballot to a voter if that voter is a permanent VBM voter, is in an all-mail ballot election, or is in an all-mail ballot precinct. 3. Provides that an election official does not have to mail a sample ballot if the voter has already received a VIG which contained a sample ballot. CONTINUED SB 589 Page 3 Background VBM Voting in California : In the past few elections, the number of voters choosing to vote using a VBM ballot has increased significantly, particularly since the enactment of AB 1520 (Shelley, Chapter 922, Statutes of 2001), which allowed any voter to become a permanent VBM voter. Of the 13,202,158 California voters participating in the 2012 Presidential Election, about 6.8 million people, or 51%, cast their ballots by mail. This continued, steady increase suggests that the number of voters opting to vote by VBM ballot will continue to grow. Reasons Why a VBM Ballot Might Not be Counted : Under current law, there have been two primary reasons why a VBM ballot that was completed and returned to the elections officials may not be counted. One of the most common reasons is that many ballots are received by the elections office after Election Day, and state law requires that VBM ballots be received by the close of polls on Election Day in order to be counted. A voter who was under the impression that his/her ballot would be counted as long as the envelope was postmarked by Election Day could repeatedly have his/her ballot not counted if that voter regularly waited until Election Day to put their VBM ballot in the mail. The other primary reason why a VBM ballot might not be counted is that the signature on the identification envelope is missing or does not match the one on the voter's affidavit of registration. Illness and age can be factors that contribute to a signature changing over time. For example, many older voters do not realize that the signature on file with the registrar of voters no longer matches their current signature and as a result their VBM ballot may not be counted. Prior legislation AB 293 (Hill) of 2011 would have required the elections official to establish a free access system that allows a VBM voter to find out whether his/her VBM ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the ballot was not counted. AB 293 was vetoed by the Governor, who, although he supported the author's intent, vetoed the measure based on the new mandate. CONTINUED SB 589 Page 4 FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Potentially minor costs to counties for providing free-access system. (General) Potential savings to counties for printing and mailing fewer sample ballots. (General) SUPPORT : (Verified 4/16/13) Secretary of State (source) SEIU California Association of Clerks and Election Officials ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, for the first time in California's history, a majority of voters in a general election cast their ballots by mail in the November 6, 2012 election. Unfortunately, over 59,000 VBM ballots were rejected by county registrars throughout the state. Roughly 1% of VBM voters in California submitted their ballots and thought they voted, not knowing that their ballots were rejected. This bill allows VBM voters to contact their local registrar of voters to determine if their ballot was counted. If their ballot was rejected, this bill requires the registrar to inform the VBM voter why their ballot was rejected so they can remedy the problem for future elections. Under existing law these VBM voters have no way of knowing there's a problem and don't know to fix the problem. The "free access system" requirement in this bill provides county registrars with flexibility to determine how they want to comply with the provisions of this bill. County registrars can comply with this bill by informing voters on a walk-in basis, informing voters over the phone, or informing voters online. This bill also provides county registrars with flexibility on printing requirements in order to reduce redundancy for voters. CONTINUED SB 589 Page 5 This bill allows county registrars to omit the sample ballot language when they mail the voter information guide to VBM voters. This is a reasonable option since VBM voters will receive the actual ballot containing complete ballot language for all measures shortly after the voter information guide is delivered. Instead of receiving the ballot language twice, VBM voters will only receive it once when they receive their ballot. RM:d 4/17/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED