BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 477
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
477 (Mullin)
As Amended April 8, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Elections |4-2 |Ridley-Thomas, |Grove, Gatto |
| | |Gordon, Mullin, Perea | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |12-5 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo |Wagner |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Weber, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Allows a voter who failed to sign his or her vote by
mail (VBM) identification envelope to sign a statement up to 10
days after the election, as specified, in order to have his or her
ballot counted. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits an elections official, if he or she determines that a
AB 477
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voter has failed to sign the VBM identification envelope, from
rejecting the VBM ballot if the voter does any of the following:
a) Signs the identification envelope at the office of the
elections official during regular business hours before 5
p.m. on the 10th day after the election;
b) Before 5 p.m. on the 10th day after the election,
completes and submits an unsigned ballot statement, as
specified; or,
c) Before the polls close on election day, completes and
submits an unsigned ballot statement to a polling place
within the county or ballot drop-off box.
2)Requires an elections official, if timely submitted, to accept
any completed unsigned ballot statement. Requires an elections
official, upon receipt of the unsigned ballot statement, to
compare the voter's signature on the statement in the manner
provided by current law.
3)Permits an elections official to use methods other than those
described above to obtain a voter's signature on an unsigned
identification envelope.
4)Requires instructions to accompany the unsigned ballot
statement, as specified.
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5)Allows an elections official to compare the signature on a VBM
ballot identification envelope with a signature appearing on any
form issued by the elections official that contains the voter's
signature and that is part of the voter's registration record,
instead of providing that an elections official may make a
determination of whether the signature on a voter's VBM ballot
identification envelope compares to the voter's registration
record by reviewing a series of signatures appearing on official
forms in the voter's registration record that have been
determined to compare, and that demonstrates the progression of
the voter's signature.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Costs to elections officials would be state reimbursable, but
should be minor such that mandate claims would be unlikely, but
if filed, would not exceed $30,000 statewide.
2)Any costs to the Secretary of State would be minor and
absorbable.
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COMMENTS: According to the author, "AB 477 will reduce the number
of legitimate vote-by-mail ballots that are rejected, ensuring
that fewer voters are disenfranchised. California has one of the
highest ballot rejection rates in the country, which is especially
disconcerting because vote-by-mail ballot use has increased
rapidly in recent years, with 60 percent of voters casting their
ballots by mail in last November's general election. With such
high usage rates, it is imperative the state do everything
possible to minimize the number of discarded legitimate ballots?"
The UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project conducted a
statewide survey of California's 58 county election offices to
gain a better understanding of California's use of VBM ballots,
including return methods. According to their September 2014
brief, entitled "California's Uncounted VBM Ballots: Identifying
Variation in County Processing," in 2012, for the first time in a
statewide general election, over 50% of California's voters chose
to cast their ballot via VBM. This totaled 6.6 million ballots.
However, approximately 1% of those VBM ballots received by the
elections official were rejected during ballot processing. That
amounts to approximately 69,000 ballots. According to the survey,
late receipt was the most common reason why a VBM ballot was
uncounted. Signature issues, such as a missing signature or a
mismatching signature, were the other top two reasons for VBM
ballot rejection.
According to the author's statement, the goal of this bill is to
address those VBM ballots that arrive with no signature. This
bill will help remedy this problem by prohibiting an elections
official, if a voter has failed to sign the VBM identification
envelope, from rejecting the VBM ballot, as specified. This bill
creates a new process that permits a voter to either sign the
identification envelope of his or her VBM ballot at the elections
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official's office or complete and submit an unsigned ballot
statement before 5 p.m. on the 10th day after the election, as
specified. If the voter chooses to complete and submit an
unsigned ballot statement, this bill requires that the unsigned
ballot statement be mailed or delivered to the elections
official's office before 5 p.m. on the 10th day after election day
or, alternatively, dropped off at a polling place or in a drop-off
box within the county the voter is registered before the polls
close on election day.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0000239