BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1020 Hearing Date: 7/7/15
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|Author: |Ridley-Thomas |
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|Version: |7/1/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Darren Chesin |
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Subject: Elections: voter registration
DIGEST
This bill updates key Elections Code statutes and deletes
obsolete provisions in anticipation of the deployment of the
federally mandated VoteCal statewide voter registration
database.
ANALYSIS
Existing law :
1)Requires, pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA)
of 2002, every state to implement a computerized statewide
voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered
at the state level.
2)Provides that a person is entitled to register to vote if he
or she is a United States citizen, a resident of California,
not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and
at least 18 years of age at the time of the next registration.
3)Authorizes county elections officials, under specified
circumstances and in order to promote and encourage voter
registrations, to deputize as registrars qualified citizens to
register voters anywhere within the county.
4)Sets forth the deadlines by which county elections officials
must accept affidavits of registration which is generally at
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all times except during the 14 days immediately preceding an
election except under forthcoming provisions permitting
"conditional" registration of voters in conjunction with
provisional voting after this deadline up to and including
Election Day.
5)Specifies that conditional voter registration as described
above becomes operative on January 1 of the year following the
year in which the Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that the
state has a statewide voter registration database that
complies with the requirements of the federal Help America
Vote Act of 2002. It is anticipated that this statewide voter
database will become operative in 2016, therefore conditional
voter registration will commence in 2017.
6)Permits specified voters to apply for and receive confidential
voter status.
7)Provides that a person who obtains signatures or other
information collected for an initiative, referendum, or recall
petition shall not send that information outside of the United
States or make it available in any way electronically to
persons outside the United States, including, but not limited
to, access over the Internet.
This bill :
1)Updates numerous sections of the Elections Code and deletes
numerous obsolete sections in anticipation of the deployment
of the federally mandated VoteCal statewide voter registration
database.
2)Provides that a person is entitled to preregister to vote in
an election if, among other things, that person is at least 16
years of age but is not eligible to vote until he or she is 18
years of age and makes other conforming changes related
thereto.
3)Deletes references in the code to deputy registrars of voters
and makes conforming changes to related provisions of law.
4)Deletes various existing provisions of law regarding the
timing of acceptance of affidavits of registration and
consolidate these and other related code sections into a
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single section that consolidates deadlines for voter
registration, re-registration, and updating of registrations
that also reflects anticipation of the start of conditional
voter registration.
5)Makes corresponding changes to the process whereby specified
voters may apply for and receive confidential voter status in
anticipation of VoteCal.
6)Additionally provides that a person who obtains signatures or
other information collected for a political party
qualification petition shall not send that information outside
of the United States or make it available in any way
electronically to persons outside the United States,
including, but not limited to, access over the Internet.
7)Corrects incorrect cross-references and deletes numerous
obsolete provisions of law.
8)Becomes operative only if the SOS certifies that the state has
a statewide voter registration database that complies with the
federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.(HAVA)
BACKGROUND
VoteCal . HAVA requires every state to implement a computerized
statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and
administered at the state level. At the time HAVA was approved,
California was already using a statewide voter registration
system, known as Calvoter, which achieved some of the goals of
the voter registration list required by HAVA. However, Calvoter
did not satisfy all of the requirements in that law, including
requirements that the database be fully interactive and have the
capability of storing a complete voter registration history for
every voter.
In order to meet the statewide voter registration requirements
outlined in HAVA, California made upgrades to the Calvoter
system to achieve interim compliance while the state developed a
new permanent statewide voter registration system. The new
system, which is currently in development, is known as VoteCal.
The VoteCal system is currently on track for full implementation
in 2016.
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VoteCal will include a number of new key features and upgrades
from the Calvoter system, including the following:
1) A Publicly Available Website. VoteCal will provide
improved service to the voters of California through a
publicly available statewide customer service website. At
the website, voters will be able to apply to register to
vote or update their existing voter registration record.
Voters will also be able to review information in their
voter record, including: their precinct and polling place;
political party preference; eligibility to vote in an
upcoming election; and, status as a permanent vote-by-mail
or one-time mail ballot voter.
In addition, voters using the public VoteCal website will be
in a better position to take advantage of many lesser known
election tools and services already on the books. They
will be able to opt in or out of receiving physical copies
of the Voter Information Guide and County Sample Ballots,
and may instead request to receive the documents
electronically. A voter will also be able to retrieve
information from the new website about whether their
vote-by-mail or provisional ballot is counted and, if it
was not, the reason why it was not counted.
2) A Complete Index of Voter Registration Records. The
most discussed portion of VoteCal is the statewide
database, as required under HAVA, that the SOS and county
elections officials will collectively use to manage the
voter information for all Californians. VoteCal will store
and maintain voter registration information for the voters
of California in the 58 counties. Moreover, VoteCal will
allow county elections officials to research a voter's
registration, voter activity and voter participation
history, store voter affidavit and signature images, and
much more.
3) A Single Place for List Maintenance Functions. VoteCal
offers much needed utility to state and local elections
officials. As a central source for list maintenance
functions, VoteCal ensures the voter registration list is
up-to-date and accurate. As part of list maintenance,
VoteCal is designed to check for duplicate registrations,
check registration records to ensure voters have not been
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convicted of a crime that would preclude them from voting,
check for deceased voters, and accommodate immediate
updates of voter registration data in a central system as
it is entered by the counties.
4) Local Elections Official Assistance. VoteCal will work
with county Election Management Systems (EMS) to help
county elections officials set up and track their
elections. VoteCal will be used to set up statewide
elections, and VoteCal will interact with the county EMS to
track election information such as a voter's districts and
precincts and their political party preference. VoteCal
will also allow voters to opt in or out of receiving the
voter information guide and the county sample ballot.
This bill incorporates multiple federal VoteCal requirements
into voter registration and other related statutes by revising
and repealing relevant Elections Code sections as necessary.
These provisions were developed through collaboration between
the SOS and county elections officials in an ongoing process to
identify statutory changes in preparation for implementing
VoteCal, including the following:
1)Streamlining voter registration updates and voter file
maintenance, so that voters' registrations are seamlessly
updated using the real-time efficiencies of VoteCal.
2)Eliminating outdated references and procedures, including
references to deputy registrars of voters and to
technology-specific references to obsolete registration
systems, and requirements to maintain multiple paper copies of
registration records.
3)Codifying language necessary to prescribe the new VoteCal
system and procedures, including clarifying the roles of state
and county elections officials.
4)Improving clarity in existing law by repealing code sections
that are no longer used under the current system and
irrelevant to VoteCal.
5)Consolidating obsolete voter registration management statutes
into fewer, more specific code sections.
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6)Ensure the continued protection for confidential voters and
their personal information.
COMMENTS
1)According to the author : California is in the process of
developing a new statewide voter registration system in order
to fully comply with requirements in federal law. The new
system, which is known as VoteCal, is currently on track for
full implementation in 2016. While California must develop a
statewide voter database pursuant to federal law, multiple
state statutes must be changed to conform to federal
requirements.
AB 1020 will ensure that the federally mandated VoteCal
statewide voter registration database can be implemented
effectively by updating key Elections Code statutes and
deleting obsolete provisions.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |74 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 7 - 0 |
|Committee: | |
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Note: This bill was completely rewritten in the Senate therefore
the Assembly votes do not reflect the current version of this
bill.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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