BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1020|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1020
Author: Ridley-Thomas (D)
Amended: 9/1/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/7/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Elections: voter registration
SOURCE: Secretary of State Alex Padilla
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.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/1/15 add double-jointing language
to avoid chaptering problems with SB 589 (Block) and AB 477
(Mullin) and also restore provisions relating to the
verification of signatures to the version that was approved in
policy committee.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
AB 1020
Page 2
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
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 HAVA. 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:
AB 1020
Page 3
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
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)Provides, additionally, 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
HAVA.
9)Includes language to avoid chaptering problems with SB 589
(Block) and AB 477 (Mullin).
Background
AB 1020
Page 4
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.
VoteCal will include a number of new key features and upgrades
from the Calvoter system, including the following:
1)A Publicly Available Web site. VoteCal will provide improved
service to the voters of California through a publicly
available statewide customer service Web site. At the Web
site, 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 Web site 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.
AB 1020
Page 5
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 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.
AB 1020
Page 6
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.
6)Ensuring 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
AB 1020
Page 7
Secretary of State Alex Padilla (source)
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Jones, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron,
Weber
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
8/18/15 17:03:16
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