BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1461
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 1461
(Gonzalez) - As Amended April 20, 2015
SUBJECT: Voter registration
SUMMARY: Establishes the California New Motor Voter Program.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding voter
registration.
2)Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to work in consultation
with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to establish a
schedule to electronically transfer records of a person
applying for an original or renewal driver's license or
identification card.
3)Requires DMV to electronically provide the SOS specific
information including a person's name, age, residence address,
and electronic signature.
4)Specifies that DMV is required to only transmit records of a
person who submits documentation that establishes proof of
legal presence under federal law and also indicates they are a
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citizen of the United States.
5)Prohibits DMV from electronically transferring records of an
applicant that cannot establish proof of legal presence in the
United States.
6)Requires the SOS to provide the abovementioned records to the
appropriate county election officials unless the SOS
determines the person is not eligible to vote or is already
registered to vote.
7)Requires the SOS to notify each person whose records are sent
to a county elections official with the following information:
a) That he or she will be registered to vote unless they
decline to be registered within 21 days after the date SOS
issues the notification;
b) The method which he or she may decline to register to
vote; and,
c) The method that can be used to identify his or her
political party preference on their voter registration.
8)Specifies that if a person does not respond and decline to the
abovementioned notification, they will be registered to vote.
9)Allows a person to cancel their voter registration at any time
by submitting a request to the appropriate county elections
official, as specified.
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10)Provides that a person's information being transmitted under
the New Motor Voter Program is to remain confidential, as
specified.
11)Requires the SOS to adopt regulations to implement the New
Motor Voter Program.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires 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
DMV.
2)Requires change of address information received by DMV to be
used for the purpose of updating voter registration records,
unless the registrant chooses otherwise.
3)Provides that a person may not be registered to vote except by
affidavit of registration.
4)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 DMV or accepted by any
other public agency designated as a voter registration agency
on or before the 15th day prior to the election.
5)At the federal level, establishes the National Voter
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Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 and 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.
6)Requires that a driver's license or identification application
must also serve as an application for voter registration
unless the applicant fails to sign the voter registration
application. Specifies that the voter registration portion of
the application is prohibited from requiring any duplicate
information that is required for driver's license or
identification portion of the application.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: According to the author, AB 1461 will enact the
California New Motor Voter Act to make voter registration easier
when citizens get or renew a driver's license, thereby
increasing opportunities for eligible citizens to participate in
democracy by voting.
Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, the actual
implementation of NVRA requirements took effect on January 1,
1995. NVRA, also known as the "Motor Voter Act," was intended
to increase voting opportunities for eligible voters and
maintain their registration. On August 12, 1994, then-Governor
Pete Wilson signed an executive order to direct state and local
agencies to implement NVRA only to the extent that federal
funding was provided. However, the federal government did not
provide funding to states for NVRA implementation.
Consequently, when 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
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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 NVRA were filed in federal court. 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 courts
found NVRA constitutional, despite the lack of federal funding
provided to states, and the court ruled that California was
obligated to implement NVRA. The court ordered the state to
submit an implementation plan to the court for review to ensure
conformity of the requirements of NVRA.
The plan submitted by the state would have brought California
into full alignment with NVRA requirements except for DMV's
two-step application process. Despite this inconsistency, the
federal court reviewed and approved the state's implementation
plan and according to the SOS, the state's current provisional
voting laws meet NVRA requirements.
Under the current two-step process, DMV provides every person
who applies for or renews a driver's license or identification
card, or submits a change of address form with a voter
registration card (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. DMV accepts completed VRCs and
forwards them to the SOS or the county where the voter lives.
AB 1461 aims to take California one step closer to satisfying
all of NVRA's provisions. Similar to the recent "motor voter"
law enacted in Oregon, under AB 1461, an applicant that
completes a driver's license or identification card application
will become registered to vote. The registration will be
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provisional for 21 days, during that period the applicant will
be notified of their registration status, be provided the chance
to select a political party, or opt-out of being registered to
vote. Furthermore, AB 1461 will require DMV to expand the
amount of driver record data that is transmitted through its
existing electronic portal with the SOS. As a result, the
provisions specified under this bill will require DMV to carry
out additional programming.
Double-referral: This bill will be referred to the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee should it pass out of this
committee.
Related legislation: AB 786 (Levine) makes changes to existing
law to ensure compliance with the NVRA including requiring DMV
to work with the SOS to take additional steps to fully implement
and further comply with the state's NVRA implementation plan and
prohibits county elections officials from canceling a voter's
prior registration until the voter is registered in the county
to which he or she has moved, as specified. AB 786 is scheduled
to be heard by this committee on April 27, 2015.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Honorable Alex Padilla, Secretary of State (Sponsor)
SEIU
AB 1461
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093