BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 477| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 477 Author: Mullin (D) Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/7/15 AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson SENATE APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza NOES: Bates, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 50-29, 5/14/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Elections: ballots and the Green Party SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill allows a voter who failed to sign his or her vote by mail (VBM) identification envelope to sign a statement up to 8 days after the election, as specified, in order to have his or her ballot counted; establishes procedures for the Green Party to participate in the presidential primary, a process for establishing county councils; and, contains double jointing language with AB 1020 (Ridley-Thomas). ANALYSIS: Existing law as it relates to comparing of signatures on VBM ballots: 1)Requires a county elections official, upon receiving a VBM ballot, to compare the signatures on the identification AB 477 Page 2 envelope with either of the following: a) The signature appearing on any previous affidavit of registration of the voter; or, b) The signature appearing on a form issued by an election official that contains the voter's signature, that is part of the voter's registration record, and that the election official has determined compares with the signature on the voter's affidavit of registration or any previous affidavit of registration of the voter. 2)Permits an elections official to make the determination of whether a signature on a VBM ballot compares with the signatures on file for that voter by reviewing a series of signatures appearing on official forms in the voter's registration record that have been determined to compare, that demonstrate the progression of the voter's signature, and makes evident that the signature on the identification envelope is that of the voter. 3)Permits a county election official to use the duplicate file of affidavits of registered voters or facsimiles of voters' signatures when determining from the records of registration if the signature and residence address compare. 4)Provides that if the ballot is rejected because the signatures do not compare, the envelope shall not be opened and the ballot shall not be counted. Requires the cause of the rejection to be written on the face of the identification envelope. 5)Authorizes an election official, in comparing signatures, to use signature verification technology. Prohibits an election official, if the signature verification technology determines the signatures does not compare, from rejecting the ballot unless he or she visually examines the signatures and verifies that the signatures do not compare. 6)Allows VBM ballots to be counted if they are cast by Election Day and received by the elections official by mail no later than three days after the election, as specified. AB 477 Page 3 Existing law generally provides for specific procedures by which the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the American Independent Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party participate in the presidential primary; authorizes the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the American Independent Party and the Peace and Freedom Party to each elect county central committees, and also establish state central committees. This bill: VBM Ballots 1)Provides that an elections official may validate the signature on the identification envelope with the signature appearing on any form issued by an elections official that contains the voter's signature that is part of the voter's registration record instead of having to compare the signature to a series of signatures that demonstrates the progression of the voter's signature. 2)Requires if an elections official determines that a voter has failed to sign the identification envelope, the elections official shall not reject 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 eighth day after the election. b) Before 5 p.m. on the eighth day after the election, completes and submits an "unsigned ballot statement" in substantially the following form (and signed under penalty of perjury): "UNSIGNED BALLOT STATEMENT I, am a registered voter of __________ County, State of California. I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I requested and returned a vote by mail ballot and that I have not and will not vote more than one ballot in this election. I understand that if I commit or attempt any fraud in connection with voting, or if I aid or abet fraud or attempt AB 477 Page 4 to aid or abet fraud in connection with voting, I may be convicted of a felony punishable by imprisonment for 16 months or two or three years. I understand that my failure to sign this statement means that my vote by mail ballot will be invalidated. Voter's Signature_________________ Address"________________________ c) Before the close of the polls on election day, completes and submits an unsigned ballot statement, in the form described in clause b), to a polling place within the county or a ballot dropoff box. 1)If timely submitted, the elections official shall accept any completed unsigned ballot statement. Upon receipt of the unsigned ballot statement, the elections official shall compare the voter's signature on the statement in the manner provided. o If the elections official determines that the signatures compare, he or she shall attach the unsigned ballot statement to the identification envelope and deposit the ballot, still in the identification envelope, in a ballot container in his or her office. o If the elections official determines that the signatures do not compare, the identification envelope shall not be opened and the ballot shall not be counted. 1)An elections official may use methods other than those described above to obtain a voter's signature on an unsigned identification envelope. a) Instructions shall accompany the unsigned ballot statement in substantially the following form: "READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE COMPLETING THE STATEMENT. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS MAY CAUSE YOUR BALLOT NOT TO COUNT. 1. In order to ensure that your vote by mail ballot will be counted, your statement should be completed and AB 477 Page 5 returned as soon as possible so that it can reach the elections official of the county in which your precinct is located no later than 5 p.m. on the eighth day after the election. 2. You must sign your name on the line above (Voter's Signature). 3. Place the statement into a mailing envelope addressed to your local elections official. Mail, deliver, or have delivered the completed statement to the elections official. Be sure there is sufficient postage if mailed and that the address of the elections official is correct. 4. Alternatively, you may submit your completed statement by facsimile transmission to your local elections official, or submit your completed statement to a polling place within the county or a ballot dropoff box before the close of the polls on election day." 5) Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to include the unsigned ballot statement and instructions described above on his or her Internet Web site, and provide a list of mailing addresses and facsimile transmission numbers of all elections officials, or provide conspicuous hyperlinks to that information, on the Internet Web page containing the statement and instructions. 6) Requires an elections official to include the unsigned ballot statement and instructions described above on his or her Internet Web site, and provide the elections official's mailing address and facsimile transmission number on the Internet Web page containing the statement and instructions. 7) Provides that a ballot shall not be removed from its identification envelope until the time for processing ballots. And further provides a ballot shall not be rejected for cause after the identification envelope has been opened. Green Party Provisions 8) Establishes the procedures by which the Green Party would participate in the presidential primary. AB 477 Page 6 9) Authorizes the Green Party to establish county councils by election. 10)Establishes a Green Party state coordinating committee. Miscellaneous 11)Contains double jointing language with AB 1020 (Ridley-Thomas), and makes other technical and corresponding changes. Background Vote By Mail Ballot Rejection: 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 percent of California's voters chose to cast their ballot via VBM. This totaled 6.6 million ballots. However, approximately one percent 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. In an effort to remedy the significant VBM ballot rejection rate, last session the Legislature approved and Governor Brown signed SB 29 (Correa, Chapter 618, Statutes of 2014) which allowed VBM ballots to be counted if they are cast by election day and received by the elections official by mail no later than three days after the election, as specified. The signing and implementation of SB 29 (Correa), was ground breaking as it represented the first time that California state law explicitly has allowed any ballot which was received after election day to be counted. Current Procedures for Processing Unsigned VBM Ballots: AB 477 Page 7 Existing law does not require county elections officials to contact a voter and inform them that his or her ballot was not counted. However, in practice, when it comes to VBM ballots being rejected due to missing signatures, county elections officials attempt to contact the voter prior to election day in order to provide them the opportunity to correct their ballot. According to the UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project survey referenced above, nearly all counties utilize multiple methods to contact a voter, such as contacting the voter by phone, email, or mailing the VBM ballot back. However, because current law does not require a voter to provide a phone number or email when an individual registers to vote or requests a VBM ballot, efforts to contact a voter remain a challenge as a voter's phone number and email may not be updated or available. 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. In total, about 17 percent of ballots are not counted because the voter failed to sign his or her ballot envelope. To remedy this, AB 477 allows elections officials to collect a voter's signature on a separate form, signed under penalty of fraud. This policy has been successfully implemented in both Florida and Colorado. Lastly, the bill also incorporates another successful Colorado law by allowing elections officials to collect signatures on unsigned ballots after Election Day. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes AB 477 Page 8 According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: The bill would likely result in state reimbursable costs to local elections officials, potentially exceeding $50,000 (General Fund). Costs to the Secretary of State would be minor and absorbable. SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15) Secretary of State Alex Padilla California Association of Clerks and Election Officials California Common Cause California Forward Action Fund California Voter Foundation Green Party of California Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors League of Women Voters of California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 50-29, 5/14/15 AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Cooley, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gatto, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, AB 477 Page 9 Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106 8/30/15 19:17:13 **** END ****