BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1443| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1443 Author: Chau (D) Amended: 8/17/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 6/30/15 AYES: Allen, Anderson, Hertzberg, Liu NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Voters: language accessibility SOURCE: Secretary of State Alex Padilla Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials DIGEST: This bill requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to establish a Language Accessibility Advisory Committee, as specified. ANALYSIS: Existing federal law: 1)Requires a state or a political subdivision of a state to provide voting materials in the language of a minority group when that group within the jurisdiction has an illiteracy rate that is higher than the national illiteracy rate, and the number of the United States citizens of voting age in that AB 1443 Page 2 single language group within the jurisdiction meets at least one of the following: a) Numbers more than 10,000; b) Makes up more than five percent of all voting age citizens; or, c) On an Indian reservation, exceeds five percent of all reservation residents. 2)Requires a state or political subdivision of a state to provide voting materials in the language of a minority group if all of the following apply: a) Over five percent of the voting age citizens were, on November 1, 1972, members of a single language minority group; b) Registration and election materials were provided only in English on November 1, 1972; and, c) Fewer than 50 percent of the voting age citizens were registered to vote or voted in the 1972 Presidential election. 3)Defines language minorities or language minority groups, for the purposes of the above provisions, to mean persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of Spanish heritage. Existing state law: 1)Establishes the SOS as the chief elections officer of the state and requires that he or she ensure elections are efficiently conducted and that state election laws are enforced. 2)Declares the intent of the Legislature that non-English-speaking citizens, like other citizens, should be encouraged to vote and that appropriate efforts should be made to minimize obstacles to voting by citizens who lack sufficient skill in English to vote without assistance. AB 1443 Page 3 3)Requires the SOS, by January 1 of each year in which the Governor is elected, to determine the precincts where three percent or more of the voting age residents are members of a single language minority and lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance. For each specified precinct in their county, elections officials are required to do the following: a) Translate a facsimile ballot and related instructions in the specified language(s); and, b) Post the translation(s) in a conspicuous location in the appropriate polling place. 4)Requires elections officials to make reasonable efforts to recruit election officials 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. 5)Requires, in counties where the SOS has determined it is appropriate, each precinct board to post, in a conspicuous location in the polling place, at least one copy of the ballot with ballot measures and ballot instructions printed in Spanish. Requires the ballot to be posted in other languages if a significant and substantial need is found by the SOS. 6)Provides that in determining whether it is appropriate to require a county to post a copy of the ballot at the precinct in a language other than English, the SOS shall find a need to post such translated copies of the ballot if the number of residents of voting age in the precinct who are members of a single language minority and who lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance equals three percent or more of the voting age residents in the precinct. This bill: 1)Requires the SOS to establish a Language Accessibility Advisory Committee of no less than 15 members consisting of the SOS and his or her designee or designees and additional members appointed by the SOS. 2)Requires the appointees to have demonstrated language AB 1443 Page 4 accessibility experience, have knowledge of presenting election materials to voters using plain language methods or another method that is easy for voters to access and understand, or be a county elections official or his or her designee. At least three county elections officials shall be appointed to the committee. 3)Requires the SOS to consult with and consider the recommendations of the committee. 4)Requires the committee to serve in an advisory capacity to the SOS and to meet no less than four times each calendar year. Background Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in part, "[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Additionally, the 15th Amendment authorizes Congress to enact legislation to enforce its provisions. Congress determined that the existing federal anti-discrimination laws were not sufficient to overcome the resistance by state officials to enforce the 15th Amendment. As a result, Congress passed and President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The VRA provides, among other provisions, that "[n]o voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge that right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." In 1975, Congress adopted the language minority provisions of Sections 4(f)(4) and 203 of the VRA. Congress extended these provisions in 1982, 1992, and 2006. Sections 4(f)(4) and 203 of the VRA require certain jurisdictions with significant populations of voting age citizens who belong to a language minority community to provide voting materials in a language other than English. These determinations are based on data from the most recent AB 1443 Page 5 Census. Specifically, Sections 203 and 4(f)(4) require that when a covered state or political subdivision "[p]rovides registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots, it shall provide them in the language of the applicable minority group as well as in the English language." New Census Data. On October 13, 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau released a notice of determination of minority language status following the 2010 census. Pursuant to Section 203, the State of California is required to provide bilingual voting assistance to Spanish speakers. Additionally, pursuant to Section 203, 27 of California's 58 counties are individually required to provide bilingual voting assistance to Spanish speakers, and eight counties (Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara) are required to provide voting materials in at least one language other than English and Spanish. In total, 28 of California's 58 counties are required to provide voting materials in at least one language other than English. In addition, existing state law requires the SOS, in each gubernatorial election year, to determine the precincts where three percent or more of the voting age residents are members of a single language minority and lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance. According to a December 30, 2013 memo from the SOS's office, the SOS contracted with U.C. Berkeley to determine which precincts have reached the three percent threshold in the nine languages covered in California under federal law (Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese). According to the memo, based on the analysis data, the SOS has determined that most counties show an increase in the number of precincts with individuals who speak the nine languages that are covered. Depending on the data, the county elections officials will be required to translate a copy of the ballot and related instructions into the languages indicated and post them at the appropriate polling places. Below is a breakdown of the counties that have additional languages required under state law (new languages are indicated in italics). According to the SOS's memo, these requirements AB 1443 Page 6 will remain in place through December 31, 2017. Statewide: Spanish Alameda: Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean Alpine: None Amador: Spanish Butte: Spanish Calaveras: Spanish Colusa: Spanish Contra Costa: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese Del Norte: Spanish El Dorado: Spanish, Tagalog Fresno: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Khmer Glenn: Spanish Humboldt: Spanish Imperial: Spanish Inyo: Spanish Kern: Spanish, Tagalog Kings: Spanish, Tagalog Lake: Spanish Lassen: Spanish Los Angeles: Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese Madera: Spanish Marin: Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese Mariposa: Spanish Mendocino: Spanish, Chinese Merced: Spanish Modoc: Spanish Mono: Spanish Monterey: Spanish, Korean, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese Napa: Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese Nevada: Spanish Orange: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Khmer Placer: Spanish, Tagalog Plumas: Spanish Riverside: Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese Sacramento: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean San Benito: Spanish San Bernardino: Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Khmer AB 1443 Page 7 San Diego: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Khmer, Korean, Hindi San Francisco: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Japanese San Joaquin: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Khmer, Hindi San Luis Obispo: Spanish, Tagalog San Mateo: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog, Hindi Santa Barbara: Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese Santa Clara: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Khmer Santa Cruz: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog Shasta: Spanish Sierra: Spanish Siskiyou: Spanish Solano: Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese Sonoma: Spanish Stanislaus: Spanish, Hindi, Khmer Sutter: Spanish, Hindi Tehama: Spanish Trinity: Spanish Tulare: Spanish, Tagalog Tuolumne: Spanish Ventura: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Hindi Yolo: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Hindi Yuba: Spanish Comments 1)According to the author, nearly 16 million California voters receive materials in a variety of required primary languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. Language accessible elections materials may include registration forms, voting notices, voting instructions, ballots, sample ballots, polling place notices, and voter information pamphlets. AB 1443 establishes in the Office of the Secretary of State a committee of appointed specialists to advise state and local elections officials on best practices to address language accessibility needs of voters. AB 1443 Page 8 FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15) Secretary of State Alex Padilla (co-source) Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (co-source) National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (co-source) Advancement Project American Civil Liberties Union California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials California Immigrant Policy Center Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment League of Women Voters of California The Greenlining Institute Voz Interpreting 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 AB 1443 Page 9 8/19/15 20:59:07 **** END ****