BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       AB 547


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          547 (Gonzalez)


          As Amended  May 14, 2015


          Majority vote


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
          |Elections       |4-3   |Ridley-Thomas,      |Grove, Travis       |
          |                |      |Gordon, Mullin,     |Allen, Gatto        |
          |                |      |Perea               |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
          |                |      |                    |                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          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.  Extends the pilot project by one  
          year.  Specifically, this bill 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:


          1)Expands the pilot project to allow a special election to be  
            conducted as an all-mailed ballot election if the election is to  








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            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 whose boundaries are located  
            wholly within San Diego County (hereinafter referred to as an  
            "eligible entity");


          2)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;


          3)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;


          4)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;


          5)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,


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


          EXISTING LAW:  









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          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 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  








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               congressional or legislative district;


             g)   For polling places that consolidate one or more 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  








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                 the elections official for the purpose of requesting a  
                 ballot in a language other than English.


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


          COMMENTS:  According to the author, "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."


          Last year, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB  
          1873 (Gonzalez), 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  








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          that are allowed to be conducted as mailed ballot elections  
          pursuant to the pilot project.


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


          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of  
          this bill.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                               
                          Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094  FN:  
          0000416