BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 589|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 589
Author: Hill (D), et al.
Amended: 8/12/13
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 Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 25-10, 4/18/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Price, Roth,
Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, Padilla, Pavley, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/19/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vote-by-mail ballots: sample ballots
SOURCE : Secretary of State
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to vote-by-mail (VBM)
procedures and sample ballot mailings.
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Assembly Amendments delete language authorizing elections
officials to compare signatures on VBM ballots; add language to
permit the county elections official to use the county's free
access system for provisional ballots to establish the free
access system for VBM ballots; and require the elections
official to use any savings achieved from not mailing a sample
ballot to offset costs associated with establishing the free
access system for VBM ballots.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
This bill:
1. Requires the county elections official to establish a free
access system that allows a VBM voter to learn whether
his/her VBM ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why
the ballot was not counted. Requires the elections official
to make the free access system available to a VBM voter upon
the completion of the official canvass and for 30 days
thereafter.
2. Clarifies that a county elections official may use a free
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access system for provisional ballots established by the
county pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002
to implement the requirements of this bill.
3. Permits a county elections official to elect not to mail a
sample ballot to a voter if all of the following are
satisfied:
A. The voter is one of the following:
(1) A permanent VBM voter pursuant to existing
law;
(2) A voter in an all-mail ballot election
conducted pursuant to existing law; or
(3) A voter in an all-mail ballot precinct
pursuant to existing law.
B. The elections official prepares and mails to each
voter a voter information guide containing all of the
information required to be included in, and
accompanied with all the election materials required
to accompany, the sample ballot, except for both of
the following:
(1)
An application for a VBM ballot; and
(2)
A notice that a VBM ballot application is
enclosed.
C. The voter is furnished a VBM ballot in accordance
with existing law.
4. Provides that for each voter to whom the elections official
elects not to mail a sample ballot pursuant to the provisions
of this bill, the election official may cause to be printed
one less copy of the sample ballot.
5. Requires the elections official, if it elects not to mail a
sample ballot to a voter pursuant to specified provisions in
this bill, to use any savings achieved to offset the costs
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associated with establishing the free access system for VBM
voters before the savings may be used for any other purpose.
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.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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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 8/20/13)
Secretary of State (source)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California Common Cause
California Federation of Teachers
California State Council of the Service Employees International
Union
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.
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
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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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 8/19/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John
A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: V. Manuel P�rez, Waldron, Vacancy, Vacancy
RM:d 8/20/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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