BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1461 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Gonzalez |
|----------+------------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |6/23/2015 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Erin Riches |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUBJECT: Voter registration
DIGEST: This bill establishes the California New Motor Voter
Program.
ANALYSIS:
On May 20, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the National
Voter Registration Act (NVRA), also known as the "Motor Voter
Act," with an effective date of January 1, 1995. The intent of
NVRA was to enhance and increase opportunities for eligible
voters to register to vote and to maintain their registration.
In addition to other voter registration methods, NVRA required
states to provide the opportunity to register to vote through
various methods, including at motor vehicle agencies, by mail-in
application, and by designating "other offices" within the state
as voter registration agencies. In addition to expanding
opportunities to register to vote, NVRA imposed requirements on
states to protect the integrity of the electoral process and
ensure that states maintain accurate and current voter
registration rolls.
On August 12, 1994, Governor Pete Wilson issued Executive Order
W-98-94 directing state and local agencies to implement NVRA
only to the extent that federal funding is available.
When NVRA took effect in 1995, several states failed to take the
steps necessary to comply with the law, and several challenged
the constitutionality of the federal mandate. Nine states,
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 2 of ?
including California, were involved in the first round of cases.
The federal district court in San Jose ruled that California
was obligated to implement NVRA and ordered the state to submit
an implementation plan to the court for review to ensure
conformity with NVRA requirements.
The plan the state submitted would have brought California into
compliance with NVRA, with one exception: the method by which an
individual may register to vote at the state Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV). NVRA explicitly requires the DMV to use a
driver's license or identification application as a voter
registration application and prohibits DMV from duplicating any
information already required on the driver's license form,
except for other information necessary to determine an
individual's eligibility to register to vote. Similarly,
federal law requires a DMV change-of-address form to serve as a
notification of a change in address for voter registration,
unless the individual indicates otherwise. California's
court-approved implementation plan called for a two-page
application: one page for the driver's license application and
one page for the voter registration form; and thus was not in
compliance with federal law.
Pursuant to the court-approved settlement, every individual who
applies for or renews a California driver's license or
identification card, or changes his or her address, receives a
voter registration card. The applicant can use the card to
register to vote or to re-register after a change in name,
address, or party preference. When a voter updates his or her
address with a DMV office, the DMV electronically transmits the
new address to the Secretary of State (SOS) statewide voter
registration database. SOS then shares this information with
county elections officials, who update voter registration
records. When a voter moves to a new county, DMV instructs him
or her to complete a new voter registration card; DMV accepts
the completed card and forwards it to SOS or the county in which
the voter resides.
This bill requires DMV and the SOS to establish the California
New Motor Voter Program. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the SOS, in consultation with DMV, to establish a
schedule for DMV to begin electronically providing records to
the SOS once the SOS has certified that the state has a
statewide voter registration database that complies with the
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 3 of ?
federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.
2)Requires DMV to electronically provide to the SOS the records
of an individual who is issued an original or renewal of a
driver's license or identification card if the proof the
applicant is required to submit includes proof of U.S.
citizenship. Requires the records to include name, address,
age, electronic signature, and other voter registration
information collected electronically by DMV.
3)Requires the SOS, upon receipt of electronic records from DMV,
to provide the records to the county elections official of the
county in which the individual may be registered to vote,
unless the SOS determines that the individual is ineligible or
is already registered to vote.
4)Requires the SOS to notify each individual whose records are
sent to a county elections official that he or she will be
registered to vote unless he or she opts out within 21 days;
how to opt out; how to indicate party preference; how to apply
for permanent vote-by-mail status; how to provide contact
information; and any other information required by the SOS.
5)Provides that an individual may cancel his or her voter
registration at any time by submitting a request to the county
elections official.
6)Provides that this program will not affect the confidentiality
of individuals who are protected by statute, including a
victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; a
reproductive health care service provider, employee,
volunteer, or patient; a public safety officer; and a person
with a life-threatening circumstance upon court order.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author states that California ranked 38th in the
country in voter registration in 2014, with nearly seven
million Californians eligible, but not registered, to vote.
The author states that new research finds that three to four
million more people would have voted in 2012 if voter
registration were easier and more convenient. This bill seeks
to reduce barriers to voting by helping the state fully
utilize modern electronic data technologies to make voter
registration easier, more convenient, and more efficient.
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 4 of ?
2)Other states. Currently, no states proactively register
individuals to vote. Earlier this year, however, the Oregon
Legislature passed and the Governor signed legislation
requiring Oregon elections officials to automatically register
people to vote if the state Department of Transportation has
information indicating they are eligible. Individuals will be
provided an opportunity to opt out. The legislation requires
the Oregon SOS and the Oregon Department of Transportation to
implement various aspects of the program by January 1, 2016.
The sponsor of this bill, Secretary of State Alex Padilla,
indicates that this bill is modeled on the Oregon program.
3)When will this happen? Pursuant to the Help America Vote Act
of 2002, the SOS has been developing a new statewide voter
registration system called VoteCal. VoteCal is currently in
the testing stage and is scheduled to roll out in five
counties in July as a pilot, with deployment tentatively
scheduled for the remaining counties between October 2015 and
March 2016. Completion is scheduled for June 2016, at which
time the SOS will certify VoteCal as the system of record for
voter registration in California. This bill provides for the
California New Motor Voter Act to be implemented after that
certification occurs.
4)State budget funds NVRA implementation. Earlier this year,
the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties; Dmos,
Morrison & Forester LLP; and Project Vote sent a letter to the
SOS stating that California is violating NVRA. The letter
stated formal notice of the senders intent to initiate
litigation should California fail to remedy the situation. In
response,5) the Governor's May Revision and subsequently
enacted 2015-16 State Budget included $2.35 million in the SOS
budget to improve the voter registration process at DMV, with
$1.25 million of the total directed to DMV for this purpose.
The California State Transportation Agency, which oversees
DMV, states that this budget item will provide for the
following:
a) Upgrade DMV's online driver's license renewal process.
When an individual completes his or her renewal application
online, the information required for both DMV and voter
registration will be pre-populated into an SOS-provided
application, allowing the applicant to complete the voter
registration process. Once the voter registration process
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 5 of ?
is complete, the information will be submitted
electronically to the SOS.
b) Upgrade registration in DMV field offices by using the
signature-capture tablet connected to the camera station to
prompt the applicant through voter-specific information.
The signature-capture tablets will be replaced with a
larger tablet that will enable the applicant to provide
voter-specific responses (e.g., party affiliation,
permanent vote-by-mail status, etc.), allowing the
applicant to register to vote. Upon completion of the
signature and photo (the photo is used for the driver's
license), the information will be merged with both the DMV
and voter-specific information and sent electronically to
the SOS.
These provisions will be implemented by April 1, 2016. Once
they are implemented, it appears that an individual would opt
in or opt out of voter registration up front, but then be
automatically registered regardless if this bill is also
implemented. The committee may wish to ask the author to
clarify how the program created by this bill will be
coordinated with existing efforts.
1)What about AB 60 applicants? Pursuant to AB 60 (Alejo,
Chapter 524, Statutes of 2013), DMV began on January 2, 2015,
to issue driver's licenses to individuals who are ineligible
for a social security number but can provide additional
specified documentation. Pursuant to the federal REAL ID Act,
these licenses cannot be used for identification purposes. An
individual must be able to establish proof of identity and of
legal presence in the U.S. in order to obtain an AB 60
license, but does not have to be a U.S. citizen; therefore,
these individuals are not eligible to vote. To register to
vote in California, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, a
California resident, 18 years or older on election day, not in
prison or on parole, and not found by a court to be mentally
incompetent. Because of these requirements, this bill
explicitly excludes AB 60 applicants.
2)Determination of eligibility. Since 1994, every individual
applying for a driver's license or identification card has
been required to provide verification of birth date and proof
of legal presence in the U.S. In order to prove legal
presence, an individual must provide an original or certified
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 6 of ?
copy of one of a list of specified documents to DMV. Of these
documents, some - such as a U.S. passport - are available only
to citizens, while others - such as a U.S. military
identification card - can be issued to citizens or
non-citizens. DMV includes in its records the document used
by an individual to establish legal presence. Because this
bill requires DMV to provide information to the SOS only for
individuals for whom DMV has evidence of U.S. citizenship,
many individuals who are eligible to vote will not be included
in that information, such as individuals who provide a
military identification card to prove legal presence. This
could lead some individuals to mistakenly believe they are
being registered to vote and could result in delays in DMV
field offices due to confusion over voter registration
eligibility.
3)Privacy concerns. Past bills considered by this committee in
relation to NVRA have raised concerns because the driver's
license application includes information not related to voter
registration. For example, the application includes a
question relating to whether the individual has experienced
any medical conditions in the past five years that could
affect his or her ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.
This bill appears to address those concerns by requiring the
records transmitted from DMV to the SOS to include only name,
address, age, electronic signature, "and other
voter-registration-related information collected
electronically" by DMV. It is unclear, however, what the
"other" information includes; the author may wish to amend
this bill going forward to explicitly define that term.
4)Double-referred. This bill passed out of the Committee on
Elections and Constitutional Amendments on a 3-1 vote on June
30, 2015.
Related Legislation:
AB 786 (Levine, 2015) - would require DMV, in consultation with
SOS, to make the state's Implementation Plan of NVR consistent
with NVRA requirements related to simultaneous applications for
voter registration and a motor vehicle license. AB 786 would
also require DMV, if requested to do so by a registered voter,
to notify county elections officials of both counties when a
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 7 of ?
voter moves from one county to another. AB 786 is currently in
the Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendment. The
committee understands that the author will not move AB 786 this
year in its current form.
SB 1061 (Block, 2014) - would have required DMV, in consultation
with SOS, to revise the applications for a driver's license,
instruction permit, junior permit, and identification card to
include provisions to automatically register an individual to
vote unless the individual opts out. SB 1061 would have also
required DMV to submit the driver's license application of any
individual who is eligible to vote, but is not currently
registered to vote, to the elections official of the county in
which the individual lives. SB 1061 passed the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee on an 8-3 vote, but was
subsequently held on the Senate Appropriations Committee
suspense file.
SB 361 (Padilla 2014) -would have required DMV, the California
Community Colleges, the California State University, and
NVRA-designated voter registration agencies to allow customers,
students, and clients, respectively, to submit voter
registration forms electronically to SOS one year after SOS
certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration
database in compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act of
2002. SB 361 was not heard by this committee and was held on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.
SB 113 (Jackson, Chapter 619, Statutes of 2014) - expands the
voter pre-registration program from 17-year-olds to
16-year-olds.
AB 1122 (Levine, 2013) - would have required DMV, in
coordination with SOS, to take additional steps to fully
implement and further comply with NVRA. AB 1122 was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 52-26
Appr: 12-5
E&R: 5-2
Trans: 10-5
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 8 of ?
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
July 8, 2015.)
SUPPORT:
Secretary of State Alex Padilla (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
BART Director, District 8
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
California Professional Firefighters
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
California Teachers Association
CalNonprofits
CalPIRG
Consumer Attorneys of California
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Mi Familia Vota Education Fund
Service Employees International Union, California State Council
Sierra Club California
State Coalition of Probation Organizations
1 individual
OPPOSITION:
American Civil Liberties Union of California
-- END --