BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 654 HEARING DATE: 04/30/13
AUTHOR: LENO ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 04/01/13
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Ballot measure petitions: translations
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires the proponent of a proposed
initiative or referendum to submit the proposal to the
Attorney General (AG) who must prepare a circulating title
and summary of its chief points and purposes. The AG must
provide a copy of the title and summary to the Secretary of
State (SOS) within 15 days after receipt of the final
version of a proposed initiative measure, or if a fiscal
estimate is to be included, within 15 days after receipt of
the fiscal estimate prepared by the Department of Finance
(DOF) and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) who
have 25 days to prepare the fiscal estimate. The AG must
provide a copy of the circulating title and summary of a
proposed referendum measure to the proponents of the
measure and the SOS within 10 days after receipt of the
proposed referendum.
Existing law , pursuant to the federal Voting Rights Act
(VRA), as well as conforming state law, requires certain
jurisdictions with significant populations of voting-age
citizens who belong to a language minority community to
provide voting materials in languages other than English.
This requirement does not currently extend to initiative or
referendum materials prior to qualification for the ballot.
This bill would provide for translations of initiative and
referenda circulating titles and summaries, as specified.
Specifically, this bill would provide for all of the
following:
Require the proponents of an initiative or referendum
measure, at the time of submitting the text of the
proposed measure to the AG, to submit a list of counties
in which the initiative or referendum petition will be
circulated that are covered by the minority language
provisions of the VRA.
Require the AG, upon submission of the list, to prepare a
translation of the circulating title and summary in any
language covered by the relevant minority language
requirements of the VRA for those counties.
Require the AG to provide a copy of the circulating title
and summary and its translation to the proponents and the
SOS within 25 days, as specified, for a proposed
initiative measure and within 20 days after receipt of a
proposed referendum measure thereby potentially adding an
additional 10 days to the overall time permitted to
prepare titles and summaries.
Require a copy of each applicable translation to be
attached to the initiative or referendum petition prior
to circulation.
Require the circulator of an initiative or referendum
petition to make available a copy of the translated
circulating title and summary to each person whom the
circulator solicits in that language to sign the petition
and to provide a copy of the translated circulating title
and summary to any person upon request.
BACKGROUND
The VRA outlawed discriminatory voting practices and
outlined a number of provisions aimed at providing all
eligible voters with the opportunity to exercise their
right to vote free from discrimination or intimidation. To
this end, Section 203 of the VRA as well as conforming
state law requires jurisdictions with sufficiently large
Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations to provide
elections materials in the group's language. In
California, this has meant that several counties provide
voting materials, such as a ballot pamphlet and sample
ballot, in numerous languages (see below). The VRA
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currently does not extend to initiative materials prior to
qualification for the ballot.
Below is a breakdown of the covered counties and minority
languages according to the Federal Register from October
11, 2011.
Statewide: Spanish
Alameda: Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, Vietnamese
Colusa: Spanish
Contra Costa: Spanish
Fresno: Spanish
Glenn: Spanish
Imperial: Spanish
Kern: Spanish
Kings: Spanish
Los Angeles: Asian Indian (Bengali & Gujarati), Chinese,
Tagalog, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Other Asian (Thai,
Khmer, Hindi), Vietnamese
Madera: Spanish
Merced: Spanish
Monterey: Spanish
Napa: Spanish
Orange: Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese
Riverside: Spanish
Sacramento: Spanish, Chinese
San Benito: Spanish
San Bernardino: Spanish
San Diego: Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, Vietnamese
San Francisco: Chinese, Spanish
San Joaquin: Spanish
San Mateo: Chinese, Spanish
Santa Barbara: Spanish
Santa Clara: Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, Vietnamese
Stanislaus: Spanish
Tulare: Spanish
Ventura: Spanish
Note: Although Spanish translations are a statewide
requirement (e.g., the statewide ballot pamphlet), if the
minority language group within a certain county doesn't
meet the population requirements, then Spanish translations
aren't required to be provided.
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COMMENTS
1. According to the author : California is a diverse state
with a government selected by the votes of its citizens.
In addition, we have a robust initiative process
designed to put lawmaking in the hands of the people.
Federal law recognizes that many Americans rely heavily
on languages other than English, and that they require
information in minority languages in order to be
informed voters and participate effectively in our
representative democracy.
According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI),
California is home to the largest foreign-born LEP
population in the United States - approximately
5,807,401 persons, to be precise - many of whom are
eligible to vote. 46.5% of California's naturalized
U.S. citizens age 5 and older are limited- or
non-English-proficient.
2. Costs . Current law requires initiative measures to be
translated in their entirety, including title and
summary, for the official state voter information guide,
if it qualifies for the ballot. Therefore, measures
that qualify for the ballot do not present an additional
cost to the state; SB 654 would simply require the
translation of title and summary to occur earlier in the
initiative process.
However, translations for initiative and referendum
measures which do not qualify for the ballot will
represent new costs. According to the Office of State
Publishing which translates and prints the official
state voter information guide for the SOS, the following
figures from 2012 illustrate the costs incurred for
translation services:
Spanish: 21 cents per English word ($21 for 100 word
title/summary)
Japanese: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
title/summary)
Chinese: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
title/summary)
Vietnamese: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
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title/summary)
Korean: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
title/summary)
Tagalog: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
title/summary)
Asian Indian:35 cents per English word ($35 for 100 word
title/summary)
(Hindi)
Thai: 30 cents per English word ($30 for 100 word
title/summary)
Khmer: 24 cents per English word ($24 for 100 word
title/summary)
(Cambodian)
3. Prior legislation : SB 1233 (Padilla) of 2012 was
identical to this bill but was vetoed by the Governor
who stated in his veto message: "The provisions of this
bill are well intended. Unfortunately, however, they
add substantial burdens to the petition process without
commensurate benefit. I would also note that the vast
majority of initiatives submitted to the Attorney
General's Office never get to the circulation stage."
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Greenlining Institute
Support: American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
(AACRE)
Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC)
California Association of Nonprofits
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Nurses Association
Common Cause
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational
Fund (MALDEF)
National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Oppose: None received
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