BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 756 HEARING DATE: 04/30/13
AUTHOR: GALGIANI ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Voter registration
DESCRIPTION
Existing law establishes procedures regarding the
registration of voters.
Existing law allows individuals who are eligible to vote to
execute an affidavit of voter registration up to 15 days
prior to an election.
Existing law specifies that in order to be eligible to
vote, an individual must be a United States citizen, a
resident of California, not in prison or on parole for the
conviction of a felony, not deemed mentally incompetent,
and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next
election.
Existing law provides that a voter claiming to be properly
registered but whose qualification or entitlement to vote
cannot be immediately established upon review of the index
of registration for the precinct or upon examination of the
records on file with the county elections official, shall
be entitled to vote a provisional ballot.
Existing law provides that if an applicant for voter
registration has not been issued a current and valid
driver's license or a social security number, the state
shall assign the applicant a number that will serve to
identify the applicant for voter registration purposes.
Existing law , pursuant to AB 1436 (Feuer), Ch. 497,
Statutes of 2012 implements all of the following on January
1 of the year following the year in which the Secretary of
State (SOS) certifies a statewide voter registration
database that complies with the requirements of the federal
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 15301
et seq.):
Defines "conditional voter registration" as a properly
executed affidavit of registration which is delivered by
the registrant to the county elections official during
the 14 days immediately preceding an election or on
Election Day and which may be deemed effective after the
elections official processes the affidavit, determines
the registrant's eligibility to register, and validates
the registrant's information.
Permits an elector who is otherwise qualified to
register to vote, in addition to existing methods of
voter registration, to complete a conditional voter
registration and cast a provisional ballot during the 14
days immediately preceding an election or on Election
Day.
Provides that a conditional voter registration shall be
deemed effective if the county elections official is
able to determine before or during the canvass period
for the election that the registrant is eligible to
register to vote and that the information provided by
the registrant on the registration affidavit matches
information contained in a database maintained by the
California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), or the
federal Social Security Administration.
Provides that if the information provided by the
registrant on the registration affidavit cannot be
verified by the databases described above, but the
registrant is otherwise eligible to vote, the registrant
shall be issued a unique identification number in
accordance with existing law, and the conditional voter
registration shall be deemed effective.
Provides that conditional voter registration and
provisional voting shall be available at all permanent
offices of the county elections official.
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Requires an elections official to notify registrants
that a conditional voter registration will be effective
only if the registrant is determined to be eligible to
register to vote for the election and the information is
verified as specified by this bill.
Requires an elections official to conduct the receipt
and handling of each conditional voter registration and
offer and receive a corresponding provisional ballot in
a manner that protects the secrecy of the ballot and
allows the elections official to process the
registration, determine the registrant's eligibility to
register, and validate the registrant's information
before counting or rejecting the corresponding
provisional ballot.
Requires an elections official, after receiving a
conditional voter registration, to process the
registration, determine the registrant's eligibility to
register and attempt to validate the information.
Existing law requires an elections official, if a
conditional registration is deemed effective, to include
the corresponding provisional ballot in the official
canvass.
Provides that the county elections official may offer
conditional voter registration and provisional voting on
Election Day at satellite offices of the county
elections office in accordance with procedures set forth
in existing law.
Requires an elections official, if it appears that a
registrant may have committed fraud, to notify in
writing both the district attorney and the SOS.
Increases the fine that may be imposed for a felony
conviction of an election crime, for which no other
penalty is prescribed by law, from $10,000 to $25,000.
This bill would provide that the provisions of AB 1436,
including conditional voter registration and related
provisional voting during the 14 days prior to, and on
Election Day, will go into effect on January 1, 2014,
instead of waiting until the SOS certifies a HAVA compliant
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statewide voter database.
BACKGROUND
Election Day Voter Registration in Other States : Eight
states plus the District of Columbia presently offer
same-day registration (SDR) allowing any qualified resident
of the state to go to the polls or an election official's
office on Election Day, register that day, and then vote.
Both California and Connecticut have enacted same-day
registration but have not yet implemented it.
Connecticut's SDR will take effect July 1 of this year.
Two other states, North Carolina and Ohio, allow voters to
register and cast a vote on the same day during the early
voting period , but not on Election Day. In most other
states, voters must register by a deadline prior to
Election Day. The deadline varies by state, with most
falling between 10 and 30 days before the election.
COMMENTS
1. According to the author : The passage of AB 1436
(Sept 24, 2012) establishes Election Day voter
registration following the creation of Vote-Cal, the
official statewide universal database of voter
registration information accessible to all 58 county
election offices. However, the Secretary of State may
or may not be able to finish this statewide universal
registration system by the appropriate deadline of
2015. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that
Californians are not deprived of the right to cast a
ballot due to unnecessary exclusions in upcoming
elections. By abandoning arbitrary deadlines, a higher
voter turnout rate may be accomplished while sustaining
the integrity of our system.
2. According to the California Association of Clerks and
Election Officials (CACEO) : At one of their
Legislative Committee meetings, the CACEO voted to
oppose SB 756, and stated in their letter of opposition
to the author the following:
"The Committee does share your desire to increase voter
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registration levels in California and understand it
should be addressed in some manner. However, the
Committee voted to oppose AB 1436 due to grave concerns
with its provisions and timing?. The lack of a fully
functioning statewide voter registration database , puts
the integrity of the election at risk. State
regulation prohibits election officials from sending
their full index of registration to the Secretary of
State during the period following the 15-day close of
registration and continuing through the completion of
the 28-day canvass. Requiring election officials to
accept hundreds, if not thousands, of conditional voter
registrations without the ability to validate the
information against a statewide database provides a
greater opportunity for voter fraud. There would be a
grave risk of duplicate voting and inaccurate Rosters
of Voters at the state's 24,000 polling places. County
election officials would simply have no practical way
to determine whether or not a person was registered and
voted in another county until after the completion of
the canvass period."
The reliability of the voter registration system
establishes the framework for the integrity of the
election results. It is imperative for the election
official to have a secure and reliable method to
validate a voter's eligibility to receive a ballot
prior to issuance. Without a certified statewide
database to rely upon, there could be no guarantee that
a voter has not received a ballot from more than one
election official, greatly increasing the risk of
fraud. The lack of a HAVA certified system must be
addressed and not forgotten.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
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