BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1461 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1461 (Gonzalez, et al.) As Amended September 4, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |52-26 |(June 2, 2015) |SENATE: |25-15 |(September 10, | | | | | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: E. & R. SUMMARY: Provides for every person who has a driver's license or state identification card and who is eligible to register to vote to be registered to vote, unless that person opts out, as specified. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in consultation with the Secretary of State (SOS), to establish a schedule and method for the DMV to electronically provide to the SOS the records of each person who submits an application for a driver's license or state identification card, or provides the DMV with a change of address, as specified. a) Requires the records to include the person's name; date of birth; residence address and/or mailing address; digitized signature; telephone number, if available; email address, if available; language preference; political party AB 1461 Page 2 preference; whether the person chooses to become a permanent vote by mail voter; whether the person affirmatively declined to register to vote during a transaction with the DMV; a notation that the applicant has attested that he or she meets all voter eligibility requirements; and other information specified in regulations adopted pursuant to this bill. b) Prohibits the 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. 2)Provides that this bill shall not affect the confidentiality of a person's voter registration information. 3)Requires the SOS to adopt regulations to implement this bill. The Senate amendments: 1)Delete provisions of the bill that would have required the DMV to electronically transfer records to the SOS of all persons who currently have a driver's license or state identification card and who submitted documentation that established that they were citizens of the United States when applying for the license or identification card. Delete provisions that would have required the SOS to notify each person whose records were received from the DMV that the person would be registered to vote unless he or she declined to be registered within 21 days after the date the SOS issued the notification. 2)Require the DMV to transfer records of each person who submits an application for a driver's license or state identification card, or provides the DMV with a change of address, and who attests that he or she meets all voter eligibility requirements. Provide that the records of a person that are AB 1461 Page 3 transmitted from the DMV to the SOS pursuant to this provision shall constitute a completed affidavit of voter registration for that person unless a) the person affirmatively declines to register to vote at the DMV, b) the person does not attest that he or she meets all voter eligibility requirements while at the DMV, or c) the SOS determines that the person is not eligible to register to vote. 3)Require the DMV to commence implementation of this records transfer no later than one year after the SOS certifies all of the following: a) The state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act; b) The Legislature has appropriated the funds necessary for the SOS and the DMV to implement this bill; and, c) Regulations required by this bill have been adopted. 4)Permit the DMV to transfer information to the SOS pursuant to this bill prior to the SOS certifying that the conditions outlined above have been met provided that the information is used solely by the SOS for the purposes of outreach and education to eligible voters. 5)Prohibit the DMV from transferring records to the SOS pursuant to this bill if those records contain a home address that is designated as confidential pursuant to specified provisions of existing law. 6)Prohibit the SOS from selling, transferring, or otherwise allowing third parties to have access to the information transmitted by the DMV pursuant to this bill, except as authorized by the DMV or pursuant to existing law governing access to information about registered voters. AB 1461 Page 4 7)Provide that if a person who is registered to vote pursuant to this bill does not provide a party preference, that person's party preference shall be designated as "Unknown." Provide that a person whose party preference is designated as "Unknown" shall be treated as a "No Party Preference" voter, except that a person who is designated as "Unknown" shall not be counted when determining the percentage of registered voters that are registered as preferring a specific political party, for the purposes of determining whether that political party is qualified to participate in a primary election. 8)Provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered pursuant to this bill in the absence of a violation by that person of provisions of state law that prohibit registrations of persons who are not entitled to register to vote, that person's registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization and not the fault of that person. 9)Provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered pursuant to this bill and that person votes or attempts to vote in an election held after the effective date of the person's registration, that person is presumed to have acted with official authorization and shall not be guilty of fraudulently voting or attempting to vote unless the person willfully votes or attempts to vote knowing that he or she is not entitled to vote. 10)Require regulations adopted by the SOS to implement this bill to address both of the following: a) A process for canceling the registration of a person who is ineligible to vote, but became registered pursuant to this bill in the absence of any violation by that person of provisions of state law that prohibit registrations of persons who are not entitled to register to vote; and, AB 1461 Page 5 b) An education and outreach campaign informing voters about the program that the SOS will conduct to implement this bill. Permit the SOS to use any public and private funds available for this purpose. 11)Require any voter education and outreach conducted by the SOS pursuant to this bill to be conducted in languages other than English, as required by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. 12)Provide that the willful, unauthorized disclosure of information obtained from the DMV pursuant to this bill, the use of any false representation to obtain that information, or the use of any such information for a purpose other than permitted by this bill is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or both the fine and imprisonment. Require the SOS to establish procedures to protect the confidentiality of information acquired from the DMV pursuant to this bill, as specified. 13)Specify that this bill shall not be construed as requiring the DMV to determine eligibility for voter registration and voting, and provide that the SOS is solely responsible for determining such eligibility. 14)Add double-joining language to avoid chaptering conflicts with SB 589 (Block) of the current legislative session. 15)Add co-authors. 16)Make corresponding, conforming, and technical changes. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would have the following fiscal impacts: 1)The DMV estimates costs of approximately $640,000 in 2015-16 AB 1461 Page 6 and $730,000 annually thereafter related to programming, driver's license form modifications, and increased talk-time in field offices. 2)The 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. 3)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. 4)A reduction in the 9.2 million DMV-printed registration forms, resulting in a potential annual savings of up to $368,000. 5)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. COMMENTS: According to the author, "Congress enacted the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, commonly known as the 'Motor Voter Law,' to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote. However, more than 20 years after the passage of the Act, voter registration still stands as one of the biggest barriers to participation in our nation's democracy? 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." No state currently takes the responsibility for proactively registering 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). The idea of making the AB 1461 Page 7 government responsible for proactively registering voters when the government has information to verify individuals' eligibility to vote - sometimes referred to as "automatic voter registration" - received renewed attention earlier this year when the Oregon Legislature passed and the Governor signed House Bill 2177, which will require Oregon elections officials to automatically register people to vote if the state Department of Transportation has information indicating that those people are eligible to register to vote. As approved by the Assembly, this bill would have required the DMV to transfer information to the SOS about individuals who currently held driver's licenses and identification cards and who submitted documentation that established that they were citizens of the United States when applying for the license or identification card. Those individuals then would have been registered to vote unless they opted-out in response to a subsequent notification sent to them by the SOS. The Senate amendments instead require individuals, when they apply for a driver's license or identification card at the DMV, or update their address with the DMV, to attest whether or not they meet the eligibility requirements to register to vote. For those who attest that they meet those requirements, additional voting-related information will be collected from those individuals at the DMV, and they will be registered to vote unless they opt-out. Unlike the Assembly-version of the bill, which would have allowed for the automatic registration of individuals who had applied for driver's licenses and identification cards before the effective date of this bill, the Senate-version of the bill provides for automatic voter registration only for those persons who interact with the DMV after the effective date of the bill. For individuals who have not interacted with the DMV after the effective date of this bill, the Senate-version of the bill allows DMV records to be used by the SOS solely for the purposes of outreach and education to eligible voters. Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion AB 1461 Page 8 of this bill. Analysis Prepared by: Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN: 0002259