BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1504
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1504 (Alejo)
As Amended September 2, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-27 |(June 3, 2015) |SENATE: | 32-6 |(September 8, |
| | | | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY: Authorizes Monterey and Sacramento Counties to
participate in an ongoing pilot project that allows certain
elections to be conducted entirely by mailed ballot.
Specifically, 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, subject to certain conditions and reporting requirements.
The Senate amendments require Monterey and Sacramento Counties,
for any election conducted pursuant to this bill, to have at
least one polling place for every 50,000 registered voters with
a minimum of one polling place per city, whichever results in
more polling places, instead of a requirement to have at least
one polling place per city.
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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 dropoff locations are fixed
so that the number of residents for each 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 ballot,
including an envelope for the return of the voted 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 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, if San Mateo or Yolo County conducts an all-mailed
ballot election pursuant to the pilot project, that the county
report to the Legislature and the SOS regarding the success of
the election. Requires the report to include statistics on
the cost to conduct the election; the turnout of different
populations, including the population categories of race,
ethnicity, age, gender, disability, permanent vote by mail
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, when possible, to compare
the success of the all-mailed ballot election to similar
elections not conducted wholly by mail in the same
jurisdiction.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: 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
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the existing pilot program which is scheduled to sunset in
2018."
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. 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.
The Senate amendments require Monterey and Sacramento Counties,
if they choose to participate in the ongoing mailed ballot pilot
project, to have at least one polling place for every 50,000
registered voters with a minimum of one polling place per city.
Elections conducted as part of the pilot project in San Mateo or
Yolo Counties would continue to be bound by the requirement to
have a minimum of one polling place per city. This bill, as
amended in the Senate, is consistent with Assembly actions.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0002050
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