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