BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1148 Hearing Date: 6/16/15
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|Author: |Beth Gaines |
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|Version: |2/27/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Republican county central committees: Placer County
DIGEST
Requires Republican county central committee members in Placer
County to be elected by supervisorial district, and provides for
seven members to be elected from each district.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1) Requires, in each county containing fewer than five Assembly
districts, that county central committee members for the
Republican Party be elected by supervisorial district and
provides that the number of members elected from each
district shall be determined pursuant to a specified formula.
2) Requires, in each county containing more than four and less
than 20 Assembly districts, that county central committee
members for the Republican Party be elected by Assembly
districts, with six members elected from each district.
3) Requires, in each county containing more than 20 Assembly
districts, that county central committee members for the
Republican Party be elected by Assembly districts, with seven
members elected from each district that is wholly or
partially within the county. Provides that in an Assembly
district that lies only partially within the county, the
seven members shall be elected by the voters residing in the
AB 1148 (Beth Gaines) Page 2
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portion of the district contained within the county.
4) Establishes special rules that govern the election of county
central committee members for the Republican Party from
Sacramento, San Bernardino, and Santa Clara counties and the
City and County of San Francisco, notwithstanding the
generally applicable procedures outlined above.
BACKGROUND
Placer County Republican Central Committee : Because Placer
County contains fewer than five Assembly districts, existing law
requires Republican county central committee members to be
elected in the county by supervisorial district, with the number
of members to be elected from each district determined by the
number of votes received by the Republican candidate for
Governor (if any) in the last gubernatorial election.
Based on the election results from the November 2014
gubernatorial election, existing law would require four
Republican county central committee members to be elected from
the first supervisorial district, and five Republican county
central committee members to be elected from each of the other
supervisorial districts, for a total of 24 elected members of
the Placer County Republican Central Committee. This bill will
increase the total number of members to be elected to the Placer
County Republican Central Committee to 35, with seven members
being elected from each supervisorial district.
COMMENTS
1) According to the Author , AB 1148 is needed to update the
Elections Code to conform to the current method of electing
members to the Placer County Republican Central Committee.
This method was approved by the Placer County Registrar of
Voters and the Placer County Counsel in 2012. It was
utilized in the last Central Committee elections in 2012 and
the members elected at that time are currently serving their
four-year terms. This bill was unanimously endorsed by the
current Central Committee in 2015 and the concept was also
approved unanimously by the former Central Committee in 2012.
Furthermore, this bill (and the current election method that
this bill would codify) conforms to the explicit language of
the Placer County Republican Party Bylaws.
AB 1148 (Beth Gaines) Page 3
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2) Internal Governance : In Eu v. San Francisco County
Democratic Central Committee (1989), 489 U.S. 214, the United
States Supreme Court examined the right of a state to impose
laws relating to the internal affairs of political parties.
The Court found that laws burdening the associational rights
of political parties and their members must serve a
compelling state interest. Therefore, because a state has a
compelling interest in preserving the integrity of its
election process, it may properly enact laws that interfere
with a political party's internal affairs when necessary to
ensure that elections are fair and honest. (For example, a
state may properly impose certain eligibility requirements
for voters in the general election, even though they limit
the ability of political parties to garner support and
members, where such requirements are necessary to ensure that
elections are fair and honest.) However, a state cannot
justify regulating a party's internal affairs without showing
that such regulation is necessary to ensure an election that
is orderly and fair.
In Eu , the Court reiterated that a political party's
determination of the structure which best allows it to pursue
its political goals is protected by the Federal Constitution
( Tashijian v. Republican Party of Connecticut (1986), 479
U.S. 208 at 224) and further held that freedom of association
also encompasses a political party's decisions about the
identity of, and the process for electing, its leaders.
Thus, unless the state can show that the particular internal
party structure would interfere with the integrity of the
electoral process or some other compelling state interest,
the political parties have a constitutional right to be free
from state regulations in the matter of their internal
affairs.
In 2009, the California Court of Appeals for the Second
District, reaffirmed the Supreme Court's holding in Eu in the
case of Wilson v. San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central
Committee (2009) 175 Cal. App. 4th 489. The Wilson case
dealt with a situation where the San Luis Obispo County
Democratic Central Committee had adopted bylaws regarding the
removal of central committee members and the membership of
the central committee that were in conflict with provisions
of the Elections Code. The court in Wilson ruled in favor of
the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee,
AB 1148 (Beth Gaines) Page 4
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finding that it had the right to adopt those conflicting
bylaws pursuant to Eu .
3) In light of the constitutionally protected rights of
political parties, the Legislature frequently has changed
provisions of the Elections Code at the request of political
parties to reflect those parties' desired methods of electing
members to party central committees (see "Prior Legislation"
below).
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 1200 (Ma, Chapter 8, Statutes of 2012), changed the manner in
which Republican county central committee members are elected in
the City and County of San Francisco, and the manner in which
Democratic county central committee members are elected in
Alameda and Sacramento counties and the City and County of San
Francisco, among other provisions.
AB 1396 (Torres, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2009), repealed
various provisions of the Elections Code governing the
membership and operations of the state central committee of the
Democratic Party of California, and instead required that the
standing rules and bylaws of the Party govern the membership and
operations of the state central committee.
AB 965 (Anderson, Chapter 60, Statutes of 2007), provided that
the membership of the state central committee of the California
Republican Party shall be as set forth in the standing rules and
bylaws of the California Republican Party, among other
provisions.
AB 1054 (Bogh, Chapter 65, Statutes of 2005), required
Republican central committee members in San Bernardino County to
be elected by supervisorial districts as specified, instead of
by Assembly districts.
SB 1436 (Oller, Chapter 257, Statutes of 2002), required
Republican central committee members in Sacramento and Santa
Clara counties to be elected by supervisorial districts as
specified, instead of by Assembly districts.
PRIOR ACTION
AB 1148 (Beth Gaines) Page 5
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|Assembly Floor: |77 - 0 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 6 - 0 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Placer County Republican Party
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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