BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 554|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 554
Author: Mullin (D), et al.
Introduced:2/23/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 6/16/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 53-21, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Elections: precinct board members
SOURCE: Author
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
AB 554
Page 2
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
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
AB 554
Page 3
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
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.
AB 554
Page 4
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.
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, this 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 provides high school-aged legal
permanent residents the opportunity to experience American
democracy firsthand, potentially inspiring them to become
naturalized voting citizens in the future.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/16/15)
Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Sacramento
Asians and Pacific Islanders for LGBT Equality
California Common Cause
AB 554
Page 5
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
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/16/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Santa Clara County
Board of Supervisors, student election officer work provides
high school students the opportunity to serve their community
and experience democracy first hand. It fosters an
understanding of the importance of voting and helps establish a
foundation for a lifetime of civic involvement and
responsibility. Under current law, student poll workers must be
a U.S. citizen to serve as an election officer. However, an
adult legal permanent resident may be an election officer. AB
554 allows high school students who are legal permanent
residents to work in election polls and promotes civic
engagement to a greater number of young people.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 53-21, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Dahle, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Lackey, Maienschein,
Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Salas,
Steinorth, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gordon, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron,
Weber
AB 554
Page 6
Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
6/17/15 10:26:50
**** END ****