BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 547


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          Date of Hearing:  May 13, 2015


                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING


                           Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Chair


          AB 547  
          (Gonzalez) - As Amended April 29, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Elections: special elections: all-mailed ballot  
          elections.


          SUMMARY:  Expands a previously authorized mailed ballot election  
          pilot project in San Diego County to allow certain local  
          elections held in San Diego County to be conducted pursuant to  
          the provisions of that project.  Repeals a requirement that a  
          special election to fill a vacancy in the Legislature or  
          Congress can be conducted pursuant to the pilot project only if  
          the district is located entirely in San Diego County.  Allows  
          any school district, special district, or small city, as  
          defined, to conduct a special election for a local ballot  
          measure as an all-mailed ballot election.  Specifically, this  
          bill:  


          1)Makes the following modifications to a previously authorized  
            pilot project under which San Diego County is permitted to  
            conduct a special election to fill a vacancy in the  
            Legislature or in Congress as a mailed ballot election,  
            subject to certain conditions:











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             a)   Expands the pilot project to allow any special election  
               to be conducted as an all-mailed ballot election if the  
               election is to fill a vacancy in a governing body or to  
               vote on a local ballot measure, and is for San Diego  
               County, or any city, school district, community college  
               district, special district, or other district or political  
               subdivision organized pursuant to state law whose  
               boundaries are located wholly or in part within San Diego  
               County (hereinafter referred to as an "eligible entity");


             b)   Repeals a requirement, if the election conducted  
               pursuant to the pilot is a special election to fill a  
               vacancy in the Legislature or in Congress, that the  
               district for which the special election is being held must  
               be located entirely within San Diego County;


             c)   Requires the governing body of an eligible entity that  
               seeks to conduct an election pursuant to the pilot project  
               to authorize the use of mailed ballots for the election;


             d)   Clarifies that at elections conducted under the pilot  
               project, the elections official is required to ensure that  
               a polling place is staffed by precinct board members who  
               speak languages other than English if federal law requires  
               the elections official to recruit precinct board members  
               who are fluent in those languages for precincts that are  
               consolidated at that polling place;


             e)   Requires bilingual voter education workshops and voter  
               education workshops designed to increase accessibility for  
               participation of voters with disabilities that are required  
               to be conducted under the pilot project to be conducted  
               in-person;









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             f)   Makes the eligible entity for which the election is  
               being conducted responsible for complying with the  
               requirements of the pilot project, including the reporting  
               requirement; and,


             g)   Extends the date of the pilot project by one year, to  
               January 1, 2021.


          2)Permits the following jurisdictions to conduct any special  
            election held to vote on a local ballot measure as an  
            all-mailed ballot election:


             a)   Cities with a population of 100,000 or less, as  
               determined by the annual city total population rakings by  
               the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance;


             b)   School districts; and,


             c)   Special districts.


          3)Makes technical and corresponding changes.


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Permits a special election in San Diego County, held before  
            January 1, 2020 to fill a vacancy in the Legislature or in  
            Congress, to be conducted by mailed ballot subject to all of  









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            the following conditions:

             a)   The legislative or congressional district lies wholly  
               within San Diego County;

             b)   The election does not occur on the same date as a  
               statewide primary or general election, or any other  
               election conducted in an overlapping jurisdiction that is  
               not consolidated and conducted wholly by mail;

             c)   At least one ballot drop-off location is provided per  
               city, and at least one drop-off location is provided in  
               unincorporated areas for every 100,000 registered voters,  
               and such locations are open during business hours to  
               receive voted ballots beginning not less than seven days  
               before the election;

             d)   The elections official provides for at least six hours  
               of voting at a satellite location within the congressional  
               or legislative district on at least one Saturday and Sunday  
               after the ballots are delivered to voters;

             e)   At least one polling place is provided per city or the  
               polling places are fixed in a manner so that there is one  
               polling place for every 10,000 registered voters within the  
               district, as specified, whichever results in more polling  
               places.  Provides that a polling place shall allow voters  
               to request a ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of  
               the election if they need replacement ballots for any  
               reason;

             f)   Polling places are established in accordance with  
               existing state and federal accessibility requirements, and  
               access to polling places is evenly distributed throughout  
               the congressional or legislative district;

             g)   For polling places that consolidate one or more  









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               precincts for which the elections official is required to  
               recruit precinct board members who are fluent in a language  
               in addition to English pursuant to existing state or  
               federal law, the elections official makes reasonable  
               efforts to ensure that the polling place is staffed by  
               precinct board members who speak those languages;

             h)   Each voter receives all supplies necessary for the use  
               and return of the mail ballot, including a return envelope  
               for the voted ballot with postage prepaid;

             i)   Each voter receives all of the following from the  
               elections official:

               i)     A notice, translated into all languages as required  
                 by state and federal law, that informs voters of the  
                 following:

                  (1)       That the election is being conducted by mail  
                    and that each eligible voter will receive a ballot by  
                    mail;

                  (2)       The voter may cast a ballot in person at a  
                    satellite location; and,

                  (3)       The voter may request the county elections  
                    official to send a ballot in a language other than  
                    English pursuant to state and federal law.

               ii)    A list of the ballot drop-off and polling place  
                 locations, and that list is posted on the Internet Web  
                 site of the county elections office; and,

               iii)   A postage-paid postcard that the voter may return to  
                 the elections official for the purpose of requesting a  
                 ballot in a language other than English.










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          2)Requires San Diego County, if it conducts an election by  
            mailed ballot pursuant to the provisions outlined above, to  
            report to the Legislature and to the Secretary of State  
            regarding the success of the election, including, but not  
            limited to, any statistics on the cost to conduct the  
            election; the turnout of different populations, including, but  
            not limited to and to the extent possible, the population  
            categories of race, ethnicity, language preference, age,  
            gender, disability, permanent vote by mail status, and  
            political party affiliation as it relates to the languages  
            required under the federal Voting Rights Act; the number of  
            ballots that were not counted and the reasons they were  
            rejected; voter fraud; and any other problems that became  
            known to the county during the election or canvass.  Requires  
            the report, whenever possible, to compare the election  
            conducted under the pilot project to similar elections not  
            conducted as mailed ballot elections in the same jurisdiction  
            or comparable jurisdictions.

          3)Permits an election to be conducted wholly by mail if the  
            governing body authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the  
            election, the election occurs on an established mailed ballot  
            election date, and the election is one of the following:

             a)   An election in which no more than 1,000 registered  
               voters are eligible to participate;

             b)   An election in a city, county, or district with 5,000 or  
               fewer registered voters that is restricted to the  
               imposition of special taxes, expenditure limitation  
               overrides, or both;

             c)   An election on the issuance of a general obligation  
               water bond;

             d)   An election in one of four specifically enumerated water  
               districts; or,









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             e)   An election or assessment ballot proceeding required or  
               authorized by the state constitution under Proposition 218.

          4)Authorizes a school district or city with a population of  
            100,000 or less to conduct an all-mail ballot election to fill  
            a vacancy in a special election.

          5)Authorizes a district to conduct any election as an all-mailed  
            ballot election on any date other than an established election  
            date.

          6)Permits San Mateo and Yolo counties, as part of a pilot  
            program lasting through January 1, 2018, to conduct elections  
            on up to three dates as all-mailed ballot elections, subject  
            to certain conditions and reporting requirements.

          FISCAL EFFECT:  None.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.


          COMMENTS:  


          1)Purpose of the Bill:  According to the author:


               Special elections in California are notorious for  
               having abysmal voter turnout levels. In fact, the  
               average registered turnout of the 13 deciding special  
               elections since January 2013 is 14.07%. In some of  
               those special elections, that statistic even drops  
               below 10%.













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               This alarmingly low turnout level can be attributed to  
               the fact that special elections often cover fewer  
               issues and are generally less competitive than  
               statewide general elections. As a result, special  
               elections generate less media coverage and do not  
               adequately capture voter attention, which can  
               intensify low turnout.





               Vote-by-mail voters have cast as much as 80% of the  
               ballots in special elections this decade as Election  
               Day voter participation in these contests has dropped  
               significantly. In fact, vote-by-mail voters have  
               demonstrated that they are up to 5 times more likely  
               to participate in a special election than voters who  
               do not receive their ballot in the mail.





               In San Diego County alone, the Secretary of State  
               reported that the percentage of vote-by-mail voters  
               was over 4% higher than the statewide average for the  
               2014 General Election. This may suggest that San Diego  
               County's voting behavior and demographics lend  
               themselves to special elections conducted  
               predominantly by mail.














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               What is more, academic studies have examined the use  
               of mail balloting in special elections favorably. One  
               California study conducted in 2007 found that a  
               vote-by-mail system increased turnout by 8% in special  
               elections. Similar increases in special elections  
               turnout have even been found in Oregon, California  
               charter cities and California counties which have used  
               mail balloting.





               Likewise, a 2010 study published in the Social Science  
               Journal found that vote-by-mail systems significantly  
               increased the voter turnout rate of ethnic minorities  
               such as Latinos and African Americans.





               Furthermore, pilot projects have found significant  
               cost savings and reported no voter fraud issues in  
               conducting special elections by mail. Yolo County  
               reported as much as 43% cost-savings in 2013 with a  
               predominately vote-by-mail format.





               Severely low voter turnout in California's costly  
               special elections is causing large portions of  
               California's electorate to be underrepresented in  
               deciding the outcome of all statewide races and  
               ballots, which directly undercuts our principles of  









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               democracy and participation in a fiscally detrimental  
               manner.



               Full voter participation produces governments with  
               more stability, legitimacy and a genuine mandate to  
               govern while making it more difficult for extremist or  
               special interest groups to win elections or to  
               influence mainstream candidates.





               AB 547 would strive to increase voter turnout and cut  
               costs in San Diego County's special elections by  
               extending to other political subdivisions in the  
               county the option to conduct all-mailed ballot special  
               elections under the AB 1873 pilot program to cities,  
               counties, school districts, special districts and  
               local ballot initiatives.


          2)Existing All-Mailed Ballot Pilot Projects:  Last year, the  
            Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB 1873 (Gonzalez  
            and Mullin), Chapter 598, Statutes of 2014, which allows  
            special elections in San Diego County to fill vacancies in the  
            Legislature and Congress to be conducted by mailed ballot  
            until 2020, subject to certain conditions.  This bill modifies  
            some of those conditions, and significantly expands the types  
            of elections that are allowed to be conducted as mailed ballot  
            elections pursuant to the pilot project.



          In addition to the San Diego pilot project that was authorized  









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            by AB 1873, there is another ongoing pilot project authorized  
            by the Legislature and the Governor to examine the use of  
            all-mailed ballot elections for local elections.  That pilot  
            project was originally authorized by AB 413 (Yamada), Chapter  
            187, Statutes of 2011, which allows Yolo County to conduct  
            local elections on not more than three dates as all-mailed  
            ballot elections.  AB 413 was intended to serve as a pilot  
            project to evaluate the desirability of further expanding the  
            circumstances under which elections are permitted to be  
            conducted as all-mailed ballot elections.  Yolo County  
            conducted all-mailed ballot elections in March 2013 in the  
            City of Davis and the Washington Unified School District as  
            permitted by AB 413, and submitted its report on those  
            elections in December 2013.  Yolo County is permitted to  
            conduct local elections as all-mailed ballot elections on two  
            additional dates before the conclusion of the pilot project.

          Last year, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB  
            2028 (Mullin), Chapter 209, Statutes of 2014, which allowed  
            San Mateo County to join Yolo County in participating in that  
            ongoing pilot project.  Part of the author's rationale for  
            introducing AB 2028 was to expand the pilot program to gather  
            more data, and to get information from an urban county "to  
            contrast the rural county [Yolo] that is already part of the  
            program."  San Mateo County has not yet conducted an election  
            as part of the all-mailed ballot pilot program that was  
            expanded by AB 2028.  (San Mateo County conducted an  
            all-mailed ballot election on May 5, 2015, for a parcel tax  
            measure in the San Carlos School District, but that election  
            was conducted as an all-mailed ballot election pursuant to  
            other provisions of existing law, and not as part of the pilot  
            project authorized by AB 2028.)

          When the Legislature considered AB 1873 last year, early  
            versions of the bill would have expanded the circumstances  
            under which local elections could be conducted as all-mailed  
            ballot elections.  However, AB 1873 was narrowed, and  









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            ultimately authorized a pilot project in San Diego County  
            regarding the use of all-mailed ballot elections for  
            legislative and congressional vacancy elections.  The  
            chaptered version of AB 1873 did not allow local elections to  
            be conducted as mailed ballot elections as part of that pilot  
            project.

          Given the fact that an ongoing all-mail ballot election pilot  
            project for local elections was only recently expanded to  
            include an additional county, and given the fact that only one  
            set of elections have been held under the pilot project, the  
            committee may wish to consider whether it is warranted to  
            further expand the circumstances under which local elections  
            may be conducted as all-mail ballot elections.  On the other  
            hand, the San Diego pilot project includes a number of  
            accessibility, outreach, and voter education requirements that  
            exceed those included in the San Mateo and Yolo pilot project.  
             In light of that fact, allowing local elections to be  
            included as part of the San Diego pilot project may provide  
            additional information about how the differing accessibility,  
            outreach, and voter education requirements affect turnout at  
            all-mail ballot elections.
          3)Special Vacancy Elections in Multiple Counties: One of the  
            requirements in AB 1873 for conducting an election as an  
            all-mailed ballot election was that the congressional or  
            legislative district for which the election was being held had  
            to be located entirely within San Diego County.  That  
            condition ensured that all voters within a given district  
            would be voting in accordance with the same rules and  
            procedures.  Without that condition, if there was a vacancy in  
            a legislative or congressional district that included part of  
            San Diego County, but that also included portions of one or  
            more other counties, and if San Diego County decided to  
            conduct the special election to fill that vacancy as a mailed  
            ballot election, some voters within the district would vote  
            using the mailed ballot method authorized by the San Diego  
            pilot project, while the remaining voters in the district  









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            would vote using a traditional polling place-model election.  



          This bill would repeal the requirement that a congressional or  
            legislative district must be entirely within San Diego County  
            in order for a special vacancy election to be eligible to be  
            conducted under the pilot project.  Furthermore, this bill  
            allows specified elections for local office, as detailed  
            above, to be conducted under the pilot project even where  
            those elections also include territory outside of San Diego  
            County.  If a special election were held under this pilot  
            project in a district that included territory outside of San  
            Diego County, only the election in the San Diego  
            County-portion of the district would be conducted as a mailed  
            ballot election.  The committee may wish to consider whether  
            this disparate treatment of voters within the same district is  
            appropriate.
          4)Local Ballot Measure Elections and Clarifying Amendment: As  
            detailed above, this bill would expand existing law to allow a  
            school district, special district, or small city, as defined,  
            to conduct a local ballot measure election as an all-mail  
            ballot election.  This provision is not limited to  
            jurisdictions that are located wholly or partially in San  
            Diego County, and elections conducted pursuant to this  
            provision would not be subject to the accessibility, outreach,  
            voter education, and reporting requirements that apply to  
            elections conducted pursuant to the San Diego County pilot  
            project.  According to the author, it is not her intent for  
            this bill to affect elections other than those that would be  
            conducted as part of the pilot project in San Diego County.   
            To reflect this intent, committee staff recommends the  
            following amendment to this bill:



          On page 9, strike out lines 6 to 34, inclusive.









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          Disability Rights California, which had opposed a prior version  
            of this bill, has indicated that they will remove their  
            opposition and will be neutral on this bill with this  
            amendment.
          5)Related Legislation: AB 1504 (Alejo), which is also being  
            heard in this committee today, authorizes Monterey and  
            Sacramento counties to participate in an ongoing pilot project  
            that allows certain elections to be conducted entirely by  
            mailed ballot, and extends that pilot project by two years.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          County of San Diego (sponsor) (prior version)


          Urban Counties Caucus (prior version)
                                                                           



          Opposition


          Disability Rights California (prior version)




          Analysis Prepared by:Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094









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