BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 477
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
477 (Mullin)
As Amended September 1, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |50-29 |(May 14, 2015) |SENATE: |26-14 |(September 3, |
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: | 4-2 |(September 9, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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(E. & R.)
Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY: Allows a voter who failed to sign his or her vote by
mail (VBM) identification envelope to complete and sign an
AB 477
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unsigned ballot statement up to eight 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 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 8th day after the election;
b) Before 5 p.m. on the 8th 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 dropoff 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.
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
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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.
The Senate amendments:
1)Decrease the number of days that a voter has to complete and
sign an unsigned ballot statement from 10 days after the
election to eight days after the election.
2)Delete provisions of the bill that required the Secretary of
State (SOS) to include the unsigned ballot statement and
instructions on his or her Internet Web site, as specified.
3)Establish procedures for the Green Party to participate in the
presidential primary, authorize the Green Party to establish
county councils by election, as specified, and establish a
Green Party state coordinating committee, as specified.
4)Add double-jointing language to avoid chaptering problems with
AB 1020 (Ridley-Thomas) of the current legislative session.
5)Make other technical and non-substantive changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
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1)This bill would likely result in state reimbursable costs to
local elections officials, potentially exceeding $50,000
(General Fund).
2)Costs to the SOS would be minor and absorbable.
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."
The University of California 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.
This bill prohibits an elections official, if a voter has failed
to sign the VBM identification envelope, from rejecting the VBM
ballot, as specified. Additionally, 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 official's
office or complete and submit an unsigned ballot statement
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before 5 p.m. on the 8th 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 8th day after election day or, alternatively,
dropped off at a polling place or in a dropoff box within the
county the voter is registered before the polls close on
election day.
The Senate amendments establish procedures for the Green Party
to participate in the presidential primary, authorize the Green
Party to establish county councils by election, as specified,
and establish a Green Party state coordinating committee, as
specified. These amendments are similar provisions of law that
are already in place for the Democratic Party, the Republican
Party, the American Independent Party, and the Peace and Freedom
Party. In addition, the amendments add double-jointing language
to avoid chaptering problems with AB 1020 and make other
non-substantive technical changes.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0002320