BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 554 Hearing Date: 6/16/15
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|Author: |Mullin |
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|Version: |2/23/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Elections: precinct board members
DIGEST
This bill authorizes an elections official to appoint a pupil,
who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States (U.S.),
to serve as a precinct board member if the pupil otherwise
possesses the qualifications required for a pupil to serve as a
precinct board member.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1) Provides that in order to provide for greater awareness of
the election process, the rights and responsibilities of
voters, and the importance of participating in the electoral
process, as well as to provide additional members of precinct
boards, an elections official may appoint no more than five
pupils per precinct to serve under the direct supervision of
precinct board members designated by the elections official.
Prohibits a pupil appointed to serve as a precinct board
member from tallying votes. Provides that a pupil may be
appointed, notwithstanding his or her lack of eligibility to
vote, subject to the approval of the governing board of the
educational institution in which the pupil is enrolled, if
the pupil possesses the following qualifications:
a) Is at least 16 years of age at the time of the election
for which he or she is serving as a member of the precinct
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board;
b) Is a U.S. citizen or will be a citizen at the time of
the election for which he or she is serving as a member of
the precinct board;
c) Is a pupil in good standing attending a public or
private secondary educational institution; and,
d) Is a pupil who has a grade point average of at least
2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
2) Requires elections officials to make reasonable efforts to
recruit precinct board members who are fluent in a language
if three percent or more of the voting age residents in any
precinct are fluent in that language and lack sufficient
skill in English to vote without assistance. Requires the
elections official, at least 14 days before an election, to
prepare a publicly accessible list of the precincts to which
bilingual precinct board members were appointed in order to
provide language assistance to those voters lacking
sufficient skills in English.
3) Requires each precinct board to post, in a conspicuous
location within the polling place, at least one copy of the
ballot with ballot measures and ballot instructions printed
in Spanish in counties where the Secretary of State (SOS) has
determined it is appropriate. Requires the ballot to be
posted in other languages if a significant and substantial
need is found by the SOS.
4) Authorizes elections officials to recruit and appoint someone
who is a legal permanent resident, and otherwise eligible to
register to vote except for his or her lack of U.S.
citizenship, to serve as a precinct board member.
This bill provides that a pupil who is a legal permanent
resident may be appointed to serve as a precinct board member if
the pupil otherwise possesses the qualifications required for a
pupil to serve as a precinct board member.
BACKGROUND
Student Precinct Board Members : Existing law allows a high
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school student to serve as a precinct board member, despite his
or her lack of eligibility to vote, as long as the student is 16
years of age at the time of the election, a U.S. citizen at the
time of the election and is enrolled and attending school with a
grade point average of at least 2.5. County elections officials
are permitted to recruit up to five student poll workers for
each precinct.
In 2013 the Legislature passed AB 817 (Bonta, Chapter 162,
Statutes of 2013), which authorizes elections officials to
recruit and appoint someone who is a legal permanent resident,
and otherwise eligible to register to vote except for his or her
lack of U.S. citizenship, to serve as a precinct board member.
Language Assistance : Under the federal Voting Rights Act, a
jurisdiction must provide language assistance when an elections
official finds that at least five percent of the total voting
age citizens are of a single language group or number at least
10,000, and the rate of English illiteracy is above the national
average. Assistance includes the translation of written
materials, oral assistance at poll sites and the mailing of a
translated sample ballot and statewide voter guide upon request
of the voter. Further, existing law requires a county to
provide language assistance in election precincts where the SOS
determines a need exists. This is determined when the number of
limited English speaking, voting-age residents from a group
reaches three percent of the total voting-age residents in a
precinct. State provisions require the elections officials to
translate the ballot and related instructions and to post the
translated materials at those precincts. Elections officials
are also required to make reasonable efforts to recruit
bilingual poll workers.
COMMENTS
1) According to the Author , in 2013 the Legislature passed AB
817 (Bonta), which was signed into law by Governor Brown, to
allow legal permanent residents to serve as poll workers in
California. The bill did not, however, similarly amend the
section of law that allows high school students who are at
least 16 years of age to serve as poll workers. AB 554 fixes
this oversight by allowing high school students who are legal
permanent residents to serve as poll workers in California
elections.
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This change is critical because elections officials have
experienced a shortage of poll workers who can speak
languages other than English. With over 2.6 million eligible
voters in California who are not yet fully proficient in
English, this poses a problem for elections officials who are
charged with ensuring all voters have access to the polls.
By further expanding the pool of bilingual poll workers to
include high school students who are legal permanent
residents, AB 554 helps address this issue.
Additionally, the bill provides an educational opportunity for
high school-aged legal permanent residents who want to learn
about the United States' democratic process, a privilege that
already exists for legal permanent residents who are over 18.
This opportunity is especially relevant for high school
students, as they are already learning about government in
civics classes. AB 554 would provide high school-aged legal
permanent residents the opportunity to experience American
democracy firsthand, potentially inspiring them to become
naturalized voting citizens in the future.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 610 (Escutia, Chapter 530, Statutes of 2003), created a task
force to develop uniform training standards for poll workers and
increased the maximum number of student poll workers from two to
five.
AB 817 (Bonta, Chapter 162, Statutes of 2013), authorized county
elections officials to appoint a person who is lawfully admitted
for permanent residence in the U.S., and who is otherwise
eligible to register to vote except for his or her lack of U.S.
citizenship, to serve as a precinct board member.
AB 2671 (Salinas, Chapter 576, Statutes of 2006), deleted the
restriction that a student must be a senior to work as a member
of a precinct board.
AB 1856 (McPherson, Chapter 337, Statutes of 1996), authorized
elections officials to appoint not more than two high school
seniors to work in a polling place on election day.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |53 - 21 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 5 - 2 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Sacramento
Asians and Pacific Islanders for LGBT Equality
California Common Cause
California Immigrant Policy Center
League of Women Voters of California
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed
Officials
Educational Fund
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
Southwest Center for Asian Pacific American Law
Thai Community Development Center
Oppose: None received
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