BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 477|
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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:
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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
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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,
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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
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