BILL NUMBER: AB 1921	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gonzalez

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to amend Section 3017 of the Elections Code, relating to
elections.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1921, as amended, Gonzalez. Elections: vote by mail ballots.
   Existing law requires that the vote by mail ballot be available to
any registered voter. Under existing law, a voter who is unable to
return his or her vote by mail ballot may designate his or her
spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or
person residing in the same household as the vote by mail voter to
return the vote by mail ballot. Except in the case of a candidate or
the spouse of a candidate, existing law prohibits the return of a
voter's vote by mail ballot by one of those designees who is also a
paid or volunteer worker of a general purpose committee, controlled
committee, or any other group or organization at whose behest the
individual designated to return the ballot is performing a service.
   This bill would  remove those   restrictions and
 instead authorize  the designation of  any person to
return  the   a  vote by mail 
ballot and would specifically authorize a paid or volunteer worker of
a general purpose committee, controlled committee, or any other
group or organization at whose behest the designee is performing a
service to return an individual's vote by mail  ballot. The
bill would prohibit a person designated to return a vote by mail
ballot from receiving any form of compensation, as defined, based on
the number of ballots that the person has returned and would prohibit
an individual, group, or organization from providing compensation on
this basis.  The bill would state that any person in charge of a
vote by mail ballot   who knowingly and willingly engages
in criminal acts related to that ballot is subject to th   e
appropriate punishment pursuant to existing law. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3017 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   3017.  (a) All vote by mail ballots cast under this division shall
be voted on or before the day of the election. After marking the
ballot, the vote by mail voter shall do any of the following: (1)
return the ballot by mail or in person to the elections official from
whom it came, (2) return the ballot in person to a member of a
precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction, or (3)
return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came at a
vote by mail ballot drop-off location, if provided pursuant to
Section 3025. However, a vote by mail voter who is unable to return
the ballot may designate any person to return the ballot to the
elections official from whom it came or to the precinct board at a
polling place within the jurisdiction. The ballot must, however, be
received by either the elections official from whom it came or the
precinct board before the close of the polls on election day.
   (b) The elections official shall establish procedures to ensure
the secrecy of a ballot returned to a precinct polling place and the
security, confidentiality, and integrity of any personal information
collected, stored, or otherwise used pursuant to this section.
   (c) On or before March 1, 2008, the elections official shall
establish procedures to track and confirm the receipt of voted vote
by mail ballots and to make this information available by means of
online access using the county's elections division Internet Web
site. If the county does not have an elections division Internet Web
site, the elections official shall establish a toll-free telephone
number that may be used to confirm the date a voted vote by mail
ballot was received.
   (d) The provisions of this section are mandatory, not directory,
and a ballot shall not be counted if it is not delivered in
compliance with this section. 
   (e) (1) A vote by mail voter's ballot may be returned by a paid or
volunteer worker of a general purpose committee, controlled
committee, independent expenditure committee, political party,
candidate's campaign committee, or any other group or organization at
whose behest the individual designated to return the ballot is
performing a service.  
   (2) (A) 
    (e)     (1)  A person designated to
return a vote by mail ballot shall not receive any form of
compensation based on the number of ballots that the person has
returned and no individual, group, or organization shall provide
compensation on this basis. 
   (B) 
    (2)  For purposes of this paragraph, "compensation"
means any form of monetary payment, goods, services, benefits,
promises or offers of employment, or any other form of consideration
offered to another person in exchange for returning another voter's
vote by mail ballot. 
   (3) Any person in charge of a vote by mail ballot and who
knowingly and willingly engages in criminal acts related to that
ballot as described in Division 18 (commencing with Section 18000),
including, but not limited to, fraud, bribery, intimidation, and
tampering with or failing to deliver the ballot in a timely fashion,
is subject to the appropriate punishment specified in that division.