BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) - Voter registration.
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|Version: June 23, 2015 |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 3 - 1, |
| | T. & H. 8 - 3 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1461 would provide that every person who (1) has a
driver's license or state identification card, and (2) can be
identified as eligible to register to vote would be
automatically registered to vote, unless that person opts out,
as specified.
Fiscal
Impact: This bill would have the following fiscal impacts:
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) estimates costs
of approximately $640,000 in 2015-16 and $730,000 annually
thereafter related to programming, driver's license form
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 1 of
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modifications, and increased talk-time in field offices.
SOS estimates that up to 1.95 million State Voter
Information Guides would be mailed to newly registered
voters, at a cost of $891,000 per election.
Voter notification cards would be sent to additional new
or re-registered voters by the counties subject to state
reimbursement, at a cost in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
A reduction in the 9.2 million DMV-printed registration
forms, resulting in a potential annual savings of up to
$368,000.
A reduction in DMV's mailing 1.7 million of completed
registration forms to counties, resulting in a potential
savings of up to $816,000.
Background: The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) became effective
January 1, 1995 in order to enhance and increase voting
opportunities for eligible voters. The NVRA required states to
provide the opportunity to register to vote through various
methods, including at motor vehicle agencies. Additionally,
NVRA imposed requirements on states to protect the integrity of
the electoral process and ensure that states maintain accurate
and current voter registration rolls.
Currently, no state proactively registers eligible individuals
to vote-instead, almost every state puts the impetus on
individuals to register themselves to vote (North Dakota, which
is the only state without voter registration, is the exception).
Earlier this year, the Governor of Oregon signed legislation
requiring state elections officials to automatically register
people to vote if the state Department of Transportation has
information indicating that those people are eligible to do so.
Individuals will have the option to opt-out of being registered.
Proposed Law:
This bill would do all of the following:
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 2 of
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Require DMV to electronically provide SOS the records of
a person who is issued an original or renewal driver's
license or state identification card, as specified:
o Require DMV to electronically provide the
records to SOS of a person if the proof that the
applicant is required to submit to prove that his or
her presence in the United States is authorized under
federal law, also establishes that the applicant is a
citizen of the United States.
o Require the records to include the person's
name, age, residence address, electronic signature,
and other voter registration information collected
electronically by DMV.
o Prohibit DMV from electronically providing the
records of a person who is issued a driver's license
pursuant to specified provisions of law because that
person is unable to establish satisfactory proof that
his or her presence in the United States is authorized
under federal law.
o Prohibit records from being transferred from
DMV to SOS pursuant to this bill until after SOS
certifies that the state has a statewide voter
registration database that complies with the
requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act.
Require SOS, upon receipt of the records from DMV, to
provide the records to the county elections official of the
county in which the person may be registered to vote,
unless the SOS determines that the person is not eligible
to register to vote or is already registered to vote.
Require SOS to notify each person whose records are sent
to a county elections official of specified information.
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Provide that if a person notified does not decline to be
registered to vote within 21 days after the date that the
SOS issues the notification, that person's records shall
constitute a completed affidavit of registration and the
person shall be registered to vote.
Provide that this bill shall not affect the
confidentiality of a person's voter registration
information.
Require SOS to adopt regulations to implement this bill
including regulations addressing both of the following:
o The form, content, and language options for
the notice to potential registrants described above.
o A process for canceling the registration of a
person who is ineligible to vote, but became
registered pursuant to this bill provided that
ineligible person did not willfully register to vote
in violation of existing law.
Related
Legislation: 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. The bill
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. The bill was held
under submission on the suspense file of this Committee.
AB 1461 (Gonzalez) Page 4 of
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Staff
Comments: Currently, 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. If a
voter updates his or her address with a DMV office, the new
address is electronically transmitted to the SOS statewide voter
registration database, and the SOS then shares the information
with county elections officials.
DMV would experience increased workload from the bill in the
following areas: (1) computer programming, (2) data storage, (3)
modifications to forms for drivers licenses and identification
cards, and (4) outreach to the public. DMV's fiscal estimate
assumes an operative date of July 1, 2016, and further assumes
that CalVote will be operative on June 30th, 2016.
The 2015 Budget Act included $2.35 million General Fund for both
SOS and DMV to (1) upgrade technology used to collect signatures
and data from potential voters and (2) remit them to SOS. This
bill does not specify a funding source with respect to DMV's
activities, but funds in the Motor Vehicle Account are
prohibited by the Constitution from being used for
non-transportation-related purposes.
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