BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1504|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1504
          Author:   Alejo (D), et al.
          Amended:  9/2/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE:  4-0, 6/30/15
           AYES:  Allen, Anderson, Hertzberg, Liu
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hancock

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  53-27, 6/3/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Elections: all-mailed ballot elections: pilot  
                     project


          SOURCE:    Author

          DIGEST:   This bill allows Monterey and Sacramento counties to  
          join a pilot program currently underway in San Mateo and Yolo  
          counties, under which the participating counties are permitted  
          to conduct all-mailed ballot elections on up to three different  
          dates, on or before December 31, 2017, and subject to certain  
          conditions and reporting requirements.

          Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/15 provide at least one polling  
          place in Monterey and Sacramento County be provided for every  
          50,000 registered voters, with a minimum of one polling place  
          per city, in a manner so that the number of registered voters  
          for each polling place does not exceed 50,000 on the 88th day  
          before the day of the election, whichever results in more  
          polling places.  Amendments further clarify that a polling place  
          provided pursuant to this law shall allow voters to request a  
          ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of the election if  








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          they have not received their ballots in the mail or if they need  
          replacement ballots for any reason.
          
          ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing law:

          1)Allows elections held on no more than three different dates in  
            San Mateo and Yolo counties to be conducted wholly by mail, as  
            part of a pilot project lasting through January 1, 2018,  
            subject to the following conditions:

             a)   The governing body of the city, county, or district, by  
               resolution, authorizes the all-mailed ballot election and  
               notifies the Secretary of State (SOS) of its intent to  
               conduct an all-mailed ballot election at least 88 days  
               prior to the date of the election;

             b)   The election does not occur on the same date as a  
               statewide primary or general election or any other election  
               conducted in an overlapping jurisdiction that is not  
               consolidated and conducted as an all-mailed ballot  
               election, and is not a special election to fill a vacancy  
               in a state office, the Legislature, or Congress;

             c)   At least one ballot dropoff location is provided in each  
               city within the jurisdiction or ballot dropoff locations  
               are fixed in a manner so that the number of residents for  
               each ballot dropoff location does not exceed 100,000 on the  
               88th day prior to the election, whichever results in more  
               dropoff locations.   Requires dropoff locations to be open  
               during business hours to receive voted ballots beginning 28  
               days before the date of the election and until 8 p.m. on  
               the day of the election;

             d)   At least one polling place is provided per city where  
               voters can request a ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on  
               the day of the election if they need a replacement ballot;

             e)   The elections official delivers to each voter all  
               supplies necessary for the use and return of the mail  
               ballot, including an envelope for the return of the voted  
               mail ballot with postage prepaid;








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             f)   The elections official posts on the Web site of the  
               county elections office and delivers to each voter, with  
               either the sample ballot or with the voter's ballot, a list  
               of the ballot dropoff locations and polling places  
               provided; and,

             g)   The polling places provided are at accessible locations  
               and are equipped with voting units or systems that are  
               accessible to individuals with disabilities.

          2)Requires the county if it conducts an all-mailed ballot  
            election pursuant to the pilot project described above, to  
            report to the Legislature and to the SOS regarding the success  
            of the election.  Requires the report to include, but not be  
            limited to, statistics on the cost to conduct the election;  
            the turnout of different populations, including, but not  
            limited to, the population categories of race, ethnicity, age,  
            gender, disability, permanent vote by mail (VBM) status, and  
            political party affiliation, to the extent possible; the  
            number of ballots that were not counted and the reasons why  
            they were rejected; voter fraud; and, any other problems that  
            became known to the county during the election or canvass.

          Requires the report, whenever possible, to compare the success  
            of the all-mailed ballot election to similar elections not  
            conducted wholly by mail in the same jurisdiction or  
            comparable jurisdictions.  Requires the report to be submitted  
            to the Legislature within six months after the date of an  
            all-mailed ballot election or prior to the date of any other  
            all-mailed ballot election conducted pursuant to the pilot  
            project, whichever is sooner.

          3)Permits an election to be conducted wholly by mail if the  
            governing body authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the  
            election, the election occurs on an established mailed ballot  
            election date, and the election is one of the following:

             a)   An election in which no more than 1,000 registered  
               voters are eligible to participate;

             b)   An election in a city, county, or district with 5,000 or  
               fewer registered voters that is restricted to the  
               imposition of special taxes, expenditure limitation  
               overrides, or both;







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             c)   An election on the issuance of a general obligation  
               water bond;

             d)   An election in one of four specifically enumerated water  
               districts; or,

             e)   An election or assessment ballot proceeding required or  
               authorized by the state constitution under Proposition 218.

          4)Authorizes a city with a population of 100,000 or less or a  
            school district to conduct any special election held to fill a  
            vacancy as an all-mailed ballot election.

          5)Authorizes a special district to conduct any election as an  
            all-mailed ballot election on any date other than an  
            established election date.

          This bill:

          1)Allows Monterey and Sacramento counties to join a pilot  
            program currently underway in San Mateo and Yolo counties,  
            under which the participating counties are permitted to  
            conduct all-mailed ballot elections on up to three different  
            dates, on or before December 31, 2017, and subject to certain  
            conditions and reporting requirements.

          2)Makes corresponding and technical changes.

          Background

          Prior All-Mailed Ballot Election Pilot Project in Monterey  
          County:  AB 319 (Salinas, Chapter 385, Statutes of 2001) allowed  
          Monterey County to conduct any election within the county as an  
          all-mailed ballot election, provided that the election did not  
          contain a state or federal office.  AB 319 specified that it was  
          to serve as a pilot project for mailed ballot elections, and  
          required Monterey County to report to the Legislature and the  
          SOS regarding the success of the election, including, but not  
          limited to, any statistics on the increase of voter fraud.  The  
          pilot project ended on December 31, 2005.  AB 591 (Salinas,  
          2005) sought to extend the pilot project until December 31,  
          2008, but that bill failed after never being heard in the Senate  
          Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments  







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          Committee.

          Unfortunately, the report filed by Monterey County as part of  
          the pilot project was cursory, and less than one page long, and  
          therefore lacked information necessary to evaluate the pilot  
          project.  Although the report concluded that the mailed ballot  
          elections conducted under the pilot project had increased  
          turnout, decreased costs, and did not result in voter fraud, the  
          report lacked the detail necessary to assess these claims.   
          Furthermore, the report failed to disclose an incident in which  
          approximately 200 registered voters in the Castroville area of  
          the County did not receive a ballot until after election day for  
          one of the elections held under the pilot project. 

          San Mateo and Yolo County Pilot Project:  In 2011, the  
          Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB 413 (Yamada,  
          Chapter 187, Statutes of 2011), which created a pilot program  
          allowing Yolo County to conduct local elections on not more than  
          three dates as all-mailed ballot elections.  AB 413 was intended  
          to serve as a pilot project to evaluate the desirability of  
          further expanding the circumstances under which elections are  
          permitted to be conducted as all-mailed ballot elections.  Yolo  
          County conducted all-mailed ballot elections in March 2013 in  
          the City of Davis and the Washington Unified School District as  
          permitted by AB 413, and submitted its report on those elections  
          in December 2013.

          The report prepared in connection with the first two elections  
          conducted in Yolo County under the pilot project found that  
          turnout at the all-mailed ballot elections conducted as part of  
          the pilot project was not significantly different than similar  
          polling place elections held in the two jurisdictions in prior  
          years.  The study also found that turnout rates broken down by  
          age, ethnic background, party preference, and permanent VBM  
          status was consistent and similar between the polling place and  
          the all-mailed ballot elections.  The study found that data  
          provided on the cost to conduct all-mailed ballot elections was  
          inconclusive in determining whether there are significant  
          savings to moving to all-mailed ballot elections.  However, the  
          study also cautioned that Davis - one of the jurisdictions in  
          which the pilot was conducted - "is a relatively affluent,  
          homogenous community with a higher level of educational  
          achievement than most other areas of the state" and so the  
          results "are not necessarily applicable to other, dissimilar  







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          communities."  The report also noted that the effects of  
          all-mailed ballot elections on turnout would not necessarily be  
          similar in general elections.  Yolo County is permitted to  
          conduct local elections as all-mailed ballot elections on two  
          additional dates before the conclusion of the pilot project.

          Comments
          
          1)Purpose of the bill.  According to the author, this bill seeks  
            to modestly expand the current pilot program allowing for all  
            mail elections by adding Monterey County and Sacramento County  
            to the list of participating counties.  This will allow for  
            additional information to be collected about the impact of all  
            mail elections, particularly in more rural counties where  
            polling places tend to be more spread out and difficult to  
            access and urban counties where voters face different  
            challenges.  Currently, only one urban county (San Mateo  
            County) and one rural county (Yolo County) are allow[ed] to  
            participate under the existing pilot program which is  
            scheduled to sunset in 2018. 

          In recent years, the percentage of California voters who cast  
            mail-in ballots has increased dramatically, and it is  
            especially significant in special elections.  In recent  
            elections, more than 80% of voters cast their ballots by mail  
            in some cases.  Given the record low 18.3% voter turnout in  
            the recent 2014 statewide primary election, the lowest since  
            1946, California is facing a democracy crisis when it comes to  
            the civic participation of its voters and all mail elections  
            offer an opportunity to turn that around.

          University of California San Diego research indicates that when  
            special elections are conducted by mail, turnout levels  
            increase by close to eight percentage points in California.   
            An increase of this magnitude could mean nearly doubling  
            turnout rates in some jurisdictions.  In addition, the policy  
            has the potential to save taxpayer dollars because mail-ballot  
            elections typically cost significantly less than traditional  
            polling place elections which includes staffing expenses.

          In the early 1990s, California embarked on an all-mail special  
            election pilot project.  That particular project was conducted  
            in Stanislaus County, and the results indicated increase in  
            turnout from 7% below the statewide average to 7% above.  In  







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            addition, the county spent half as much money administering  
            the election as it did during traditional polling place  
            elections.  However, the pilot was not extended, nor was the  
            policy adopted statewide. 

          Nearly two decades later, in 2011, the Legislature authorized  
            another pilot project in a rural county, again with the  
            intention of examining the turnout effects of VBM elections.   
            The project only applied to one rural county, and the number  
            of mail-in elections dates is capped at three.  Prior  
            elections were conducted on one out of the three total  
            permissible election dates, and a subsequent election report  
            demonstrated no significant increase or decrease in turnout,  
            including when turnout levels were broken down by ethnicity.   
            The report did, however, indicate a total cost-savings of  
            about 43%.  In the end, it called for more data on all-mail  
            elections in California.  In addition, more data is also  
            needed to gauge the impact of SB 29 (Correa, Chapter 618,  
            Statutes of 2014) which allows VBM ballots to be accepted and  
            counted even if they arrive at a county election headquarters  
            up to three days after Election Day.

          Last year, the Legislature added San Mateo County to the pilot  
            program, but the program should be expanded even more to  
            gather more data.  In doing so, more counties should be  
            included to add to the data collected from the rural and urban  
            counties of Yolo and San Mateo that are already part of the  
            program.  Monterey County and Sacramento County are great  
            candidates as rural and urban counties, respectively.   
            Monterey County even had temporary authorization to conduct  
            all-mail elections for a two-year period from 2002 to 2003, so  
            there is already experience and infrastructure for all-mail  
            elections.  By adding Monterey County and Sacramento County to  
            the current pilot, AB 1504 proposes a minor expansion of the  
            program.

          2)All Mailed Ballot Election Pilot Project?Take Three?.  Last  
            year, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB 2028  
            (Mullin, Chapter 209, Statutes of 2014), which allowed San  
            Mateo County to join Yolo County in participating in the  
            ongoing pilot project.  Part of the author's rationale for  
            introducing AB 2028 was to expand the pilot program to gather  
            more data, and to get information from an urban county "to  
            contrast the rural county [Yolo] that is already part of the  







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            program."  San Mateo County has not yet conducted an election  
            as part of the all-mailed ballot pilot program that was  
            expanded by AB 2028.  (San Mateo County conducted an  
            all-mailed ballot election on May 5, 2015, for a parcel tax  
            measure in the San Carlos School District, but that election  
            was conducted as an all-mailed ballot election pursuant to  
            other provisions of existing law, and not as part of the pilot  
            project authorized by AB 2028.)

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified9/2/15)


           California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
           Monterey County Board of Supervisors
           Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
           Urban Counties Caucus


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified9/2/15)


          American Civil Liberties Union of California
          Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles
          Disability Rights California 


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     According to the Sacramento County  
          Board of Supervisors, voter turnout for special elections is  
          incredibly low with fewer than 10% of voters turning out in some  
          instances.  Additionally, more than 50% of California voters are  
          now voting by mail in statewide general elections, and the  
          numbers are more dramatic in special elections.  In recent  
          special elections some saw more than 80% of voters cast their  
          ballot by mail.  Finally, authorizing Sacramento County to  
          conduct all-mail ballot elections, as specified, could mean not  
          only an increase in voter participation but also a significant  
          cost savings to the taxpayers.  A Yolo County study found a cost  
          savings of as much as 43% under the all-mail format in 2013. 









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          Including Sacramento County in the pilot program would broaden  
          the statewide analysis of the impact of conducting all-mailed  
          ballot elections by adding a large urban county.


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:       The American Civil Liberties  
          Union, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, and  
          Disability Rights California believe the potential to  
          disenfranchise voters with disabilities and those with  
          limited-English proficiency outweighs the potential gains.


          In-person voting is how California provides much-needed services  
          to certain voters. Many voters with disabilities rely on  
          in-person voting because they can use an accessible voting  
          machine to cast a ballot. Voters who are blind or who have a  
          manual dexterity disability may rely on voting machines to cast  
          a vote because paper ballots available by mail are inaccessible.  
           Similarly, voters with limited-English proficiency, who account  
          for 11% of eligible voters in Monterey County and 8% in  
          Sacramento County, often use in-person voting because they can  
          receive assistance from bilingual poll workers on Election Day  
          and have the opportunity to view a facsimile ballot in the  
          language of their choice.

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  53-27, 6/3/15
          AYES:  Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,  
            Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,  
            Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández,  
            Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty,  
            Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NOES:  Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,  
            Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gatto, Grove, Harper,  
            Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,  
            Melendez, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk

          Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
          9/3/15 18:31:35
                                   ****  END  ****









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