BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1970


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          Date of Hearing:  April 13, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          1970 (Low) - As Introduced February 16, 2016


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to promulgate  
          regulations to establish guidelines for county elections  
          officials relating to the processing of vote-by-mail (VBM) and  
          provisional ballots.  


          FISCAL EFFECT:









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          Minor one-time GF cost (around $50,000) for the SOS to  
          promulgate the regulations.


          COMMENTS:


          Background and Purpose. The number of voters choosing to vote by  
          mail has significantly increased in recent elections.  In 2012,  
          for the first time in a statewide general election, over 50% of  
          voters cast their votes using a VBM ballot. This has  
          concurrently resulted in an increase in the number of VBM  
          ballots that go uncounted, with one of the principal reasons  
          being a mismatch between the signature on the voter's VBM ballot  
          identification envelop and the voter's affidavit of  
          registration.


          The nonpartisan California Voter Foundation conducted a three  
          county (Sacramento, Orange, and Santa Cruz) study, focusing on  
          each county's VBM process. Among its findings, the study points  
          out that one of the reasons why counties may have varying  
          signature mismatch rejection rates is because there are very few  
          uniform standards for signature verification. The study  
          indicates that current state law is limited regarding what  
          criteria should be used to compare signatures. Moreover,  
          according to the study, all three counties have written  
          signature verification guidelines with slightly difference  
          processes for handling situations when a voter's signature may  
          not compare. 


          In an effort to address this issue, this bill requires the SOS  
          to develop regulations related to the processing of VBM and  
          provisional ballots.


          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  








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          319-2081