BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:  April 15, 2015


                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING


                           Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Chair


          AB 786  
          (Levine) - As Introduced February 25, 2015


          SUBJECT:  National Voter Registration Act of 1993.


          SUMMARY:  Makes changes to current law to ensure compliance with  
          the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, as  
          specified.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in  
            coordination with the Secretary of State (SOS), to the extent  
            the State's Plan for implementation of the federal NVRA is  
            inconsistent with the NVRA, to take additional steps to fully  
            implement and further comply with Section 20504 of Title 52 of  
            the United States Code.  

          2)Prohibits a county elections official, upon notification by  
            the DMV that a voter registered to vote in the county has  
            moved to a different county, from canceling that voter's prior  
            registration until the voter is registered in the county to  
            which he or she has moved, except at the voter's request.



          EXISTING LAW:  










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          1)Requires each state to offer voter registration services at  
            motor vehicle agency offices, offices that provide public  
            assistance, offices that provide state-funded programs  
            primarily engaged in providing services to persons with  
            disabilities, Armed Forces recruitment offices, and other  
            state and local offices within the state designated as NVRA  
            voter registration agencies.  

          2)Requires the DMV to provide the opportunity to register to  
            vote to individuals who apply for, renew, or change an address  
            for a driver's license or personal identification card issued  
            by the DMV.  

          3)Requires a driver's license or identification application to  
            be used as an application for voter registration, unless the  
            applicant fails to sign the application.  

          4)Requires change of address information received by the DMV to  
            be used for the purpose of updating voter registration  
            records, unless the registrant chooses otherwise.

          5)Provides a person may not be registered to vote except by  
            affidavit of registration.

          6)Provides that a properly executed affidavit of registration is  
            deemed to be effective upon receipt of the affidavit by the  
            county elections official if received on or before the 15th  
            day before election day, postmarked on or before the 15th day  
            prior to the election and received by mail by the county  
            elections officials, or submitted to the DMV or accepted by  
            any other public agency designated as a voter registration  
            agency on or before the 15th day prior to the election.

          7)Permits a county elections official to cancel the prior  
            registration of a voter who has moved to a different county  
            after it attempts to confirm the voter's change of address, as  
            specified.  Permits the cancellation if the change-of-address  
            notice comes from the DMV or another designated agency, and if  
            the voter initiates the request or verifies, in writing, that  








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            he or she has moved to a different county.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:  


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


               In 1993, Congress signed into law a measure intended to  
               make it easy for Americans to register to vote when they  
               apply for a driver's license.  More than two decades later,  
               California has yet to comply with that law.  It is  
               unacceptable for the DMV to ignore federal law.  We need to  
               make it easy for Californians to register to vote.  





               AB 786 will require the DMV to finally begin complying with  
               the 22 year old federal "Motor Voter" law by allowing  
               eligible voters to utilize the driver's license and  
               California ID card application or renewal form as a voter  
               registration form as well.





               AB 786 creates an opt-in approach to registering voters at  
               the DMV.   The opt-in approach of AB 786 assures that  
               voters are offered the opportunity to sign a statement  
               under penalty of perjury that they are eligible to vote and  
               the opportunity to designate a party affiliation. 









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               This bill also addresses recent reports indicating that  
               voters are being removed from the rolls against their will  
               when they move from one county to another.  These voters  
               rely on DMV to process their voter registration change of  
               address.  However, DMV and the county elections offices  
               fail to process the change of address in a timely manner.   
               This bill simply provides that in such cases, the voter  
               cannot be removed from one county until they are added onto  
               the other county.


          2)National Voter Registration Act:  On May 20, 1993, President  
            Bill Clinton signed into law the NVRA, which had an effective  
            date of January 1, 1995.   Also known as the "Motor Voter  
            Act," the enactment of the NVRA was intended to enhance and  
            increase voting opportunities for eligible voters to register  
            to vote and maintain their registration.  In addition to other  
            methods of voter registration, the NVRA requires states to  
            provide the opportunity to apply to register to vote for  
            federal elections through various methods.  Section 5 of the  
            NVRA requires states to offer voter registration opportunities  
            at motor vehicle agencies.  Section 6 of the NVRA requires  
            states to provide voter registration opportunities by mail-in  
            application.  Finally, Section 7 of the NVRA requires states  
            to offer voter registration opportunities at all offices that  
            provide public assistance or state-funded programs primarily  
            engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities.   
            Armed Forces recruitment offices must also provide voter  
            registration services.  Section 7 of the NVRA also requires a  
            state to designate "other offices" within the state as voter  
            registration agencies.  In addition to expanding opportunities  
            to register to vote, the NVRA imposes requirements on states  
            to protect the integrity of the electoral process and ensure  
            that accurate and current voter registration rolls are  
            maintained.   








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          On August 12, 1994, the Governor Pete Wilson signed Executive  
            Order W-98-94 directing state and local agencies to implement  
            the NVRA only to the extent that federal funding was provided.  
             
          3)How Does The Current Process Work?  According to the SOS's  
            2011 NVRA Manual, every person who visits a DMV office to  
            apply for or renew a driver's license or identification card  
            or to change an address receives a voter registration card  
            (VRC). Every person who receives a driver's license or  
            identification renewal form by mail also receives a VRC. The  
            VRC can be used to register to vote or to re-register after a  
            change in name, address, or party preference. When voters  
            update their address with a DMV office, the new address is  
            sent electronically to the SOS's statewide voter registration  
            database, which then shares the information with county  
            elections officials who update voter registration records.  
            When voters move to a new county, the DMV instructs them to  
            complete a new VRC. The DMV accepts completed VRCs and  
            forwards them to the SOS or the county where the voter lives.



          The NVRA clearly prohibits an individual who wants to register  
            to vote from being required to provide any information that  
            duplicates information already required on the driver's  
            license form, except for other information that is necessary  
            to determine an individual's eligibility to registration to  
            vote.  Similarly, federal law requires a DMV change of address  
            form to serve as a notification of a change of address for  
            voter registration, unless the individual states otherwise.   
            However, according the representatives from the DMV and the  
            SOS, the current process is a two-step process.  For instance,  
            a person applying for a driver's license must fill out an  
            additional VRC to register to vote.  Furthermore, a person  
            that moves to a new county is required to fill out a separate  
            VRC to change the address at which he or she is registered to  








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            vote.  
          4)Implementing NVRA History:  When the NVRA took effect in 1995,  
            several states failed to take the steps necessary to comply  
            with the law and several also challenged the constitutionality  
            of the federal mandate.  States involved in the first round of  
            cases included California, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi,  
            Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.  
             



          Three separate lawsuits concerning California's implementation  
            of the NVRA were filed in federal court:  Voting Rights  
            Coalition v.  Pete Wilson, Pete Wilson v.  United States of  
            America, and United States of America v. Pete Wilson.  All  
            three cases were combined into a single proceeding and were  
            heard before a federal district court in San Jose on March 2,  
            1995.  The court found the NVRA constitutional, despite the  
            lack of federal funding provided to states, and the court  
            ruled that California was obligated to implement the NVRA.   
            The court ordered the state to submit an implementation plan  
            to the court for review to ensure conformity of the  
            requirements of the NVRA.  

          The plan submitted by the state would have brought California  
            into compliance with the requirements of the NVRA, however,  
            there was one notable exception with respect to the method by  
            which a person may register to vote at the DMV.  

          As mentioned above, the NVRA explicitly requires a driver's  
            license or identification application to be used as an  
            application for voter registration, unless the applicant fails  
            to sign the application.  Additionally, NVRA provides that the  
            voter registration portion of a driver's license application  
            may not require any information that duplicates information  
            required in the driver's license portion of the form, other  
            than a second signature or other information that is necessary  
            to determine an individual's eligibility to register to vote.









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          Despite the NVRA's clear requirements, the state's  
            court-approved implementation plan instead called for a  
            two-page application - one page for the driver's license  
            application and one page for the voter registration form.  

          Prior bill analyses suggest the rationale for this two-page plan  
            was due to cost, as the NVRA did not provide states with any  
            direct funding or any mechanism for reimbursement of the costs  
            associated with its implementation.  The cost to create a  
            single, computer generated form to serve as both a driver's  
            license and voter registration application would have been  
            significant.
          5)Is This Bill Necessary?  According to the SOS's 2011 NVRA  
            Manual, the NVRA did not require the adoption of state law to  
            give it effect, thus California did not adopt implementing  
            statues or regulations under the NVRA.  Furthermore, once the  
            federal court reviewed and approved the plan for conformity  
            with the requirements of the NVRA, it was confirmed that the  
            issue of Motor Voter had been decided by the federal court and  
            thus was moot.  



          However, as mentioned above, while California's NVRA  
            Implementation Plan was approved by a federal court, a strict  
            reading of the NVRA would suggest that the state does not  
            fully comply with the NVRA.  This bill has the potential to  
            highlight this matter and finally bring California into full  
            compliance with Motor Voter. 

          In fact, earlier this year a letter was sent to the SOS from  
            ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties, Dmos,  
            Morrison & Forester LLP, and Project Vote stating that  
            California is engaging in continuous and ongoing violations of  
            Section 5 of the NVRA. The letter also stated that it  
            constituted a fo6)rmal notice of their intent to initiate  
            litigation at the end of the statutory 90-day waiting period  
            should California fail to remedy the violations of Section 5  
            of the NVRA, as specified. 








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          7)Change of Address:  The NVRA permits a county elections  
            official to cancel the prior registration of a voter who has  
            moved to a different county after it attempts to confirm the  
            voter's change of address, as specified.  In addition,  
            existing law permits cancellation if the change-of-address  
            notice comes from the DMV or another designated agency or if  
            the voter initiates the request.  Moreover, state law permits  
            a county elections official to cancel the prior voter  
            registration of a voter who verifies in writing that he or she  
            has moved to a different county.   



          According to the SOS's NVRA Handbook, the DMV collects and  
            transmits electronic change-of-address data to elections  
            officials on a daily basis, which allows for automatic  
            change-of-address updates for many voters.  The elections  
            official, however, may not automatically update the addresses  
            of voters who move from one county to another because current  
            law requires voters who move to a new county to re-register to  
            vote by completing and signing a new VRC.  This bill prohibits  
            a county elections official, upon notification by the DMV that  
            a voter registered to vote in the county has moved to a  
            different county, from canceling that voter's prior  
            registration until the voter is registered in the county to  
            which he or she has moved, except at the voter's request.   
            According to the author's background information, in many  
            cases, when a voter moves from one county to another, the DMV  
            and the counties do not share information or coordinate.   
            Consequently, the voter may be removed from the rolls of the  
            county that the voter left, but is not yet added to the rolls  
            of the county to which the voter is moving.  This means that  
            the voter is not registered to vote anywhere in California  
            even though the voter intends to vote and believed that by  
            making the change of address at the DMV, this change would  
            automatically update the voter registration as well. 

          In practice, this bill allows an individual to be registered in  








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            two counties until the new county where the voter has  
            re-registered contacts the previous county of registration.    
            However, according to the SOS's office, VoteCal, the federally  
            required statewide voter database, should resolve this process  
            because under VoteCal a voter will have a single voter file  
            that will follow them when they move, between and within  
            counties.  When a voter moves from one county to another, the  
            voter record will be maintained at the original address (in  
            the originating county) until the record is updated.  If there  
            is a match between a change of address transaction and an  
            existing voter record, VoteCal will automatically update the  
            existing voter registration record with the new data.  VoteCal  
            is currently scheduled to be fully operational in June 2016.  

          8)Related Legislation: AB 1461 (Gonzalez), which is pending in  
            the Assembly Transportation Committee, would require the SOS  
            to use records from the DMV to automatically register to vote  
            those individuals who are eligible, as specified. 



          9)Previous Legislation:  AB 1122 (Levine) of 2013, which was  
            substantially similar to this bill, was held on the Assembly  
            Appropriations Committee's suspense file.  



          SB 35 (Padilla), Chapter 505, Statutes of 2012, added the  
            California Health Benefit Exchange to the list of public  
            assistance agencies required by the NVRA to provide voter  
            registration opportunities and codified various other  
            provisions of the NVRA.

          10)Double-Referral:  This bill has been doubled referred to the  
            Assembly Transportation Committee.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:









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          Support


          None on file.




          Opposition


          None on file.




          Analysis Prepared by:Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094