BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Senator Ben Allen, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 2071 Hearing Date: 6/21/16 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Harper | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |4/19/16 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Darren Chesin | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Vote by mail ballots DIGEST This bill defines the term "bona fide private mail delivery company" for the purposes of a vote by mail (VBM) ballot received after Election Day, as specified. ANALYSIS Existing law: 1)Provides that a VBM ballot is timely cast if it is received by the voter's elections official via the United States Postal Service (USPS) or a bona fide private mail delivery company no later than three days after election day and either of the following is satisfied: a) The ballot is postmarked or is time stamped or date stamped by a bona fide private mail delivery company on or before election day; or, b) If the ballot has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or an illegible postmark, the VBM ballot identification envelope is date stamped by the elections official upon receipt of the VBM ballot from the USPS or a bona fide private mail delivery company, and is signed and dated by the voter on or before election day. 1)Requires a VBM ballot identification envelope to include AB 2071 (Harper) Page 2 of ? specified information, including the following: a) A declaration, under penalty of perjury, stating that the voter resides within the precinct in which he or she is voting and is the person whose name appears on the envelope; b) The signature of the voter; and, c) The date of signing. 1)Permits a VBM voter who is unable to return his or her ballot to designate his or her spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, or a person residing in the same household as the VBM voter to return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came or to a precinct board before the close of the polls on election day. 2)Prohibits a VBM ballot from being 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. Provides this prohibition does not apply to a candidate or a candidate's spouse. This bill: 1)Defines a "bona fide private mail delivery company" as a for-profit courier service that is in the regular business of accepting a mail item, package, or parcel for the purpose of delivery, at a cost, to a person or entity whose address is specified on the item. A bona fide private mail delivery company includes, but is not limited to, DHL, Federal Express Corporation, and United Parcel Service. BACKGROUND "Postmark Plus Three" and Previous Legislation . In 2014, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed SB 29 (Correa, Chapter 618, Statutes of 2014), which allowed VBM ballots to be counted if they were cast by election day and received by the elections official by mail no later than three days after the AB 2071 (Harper) Page 3 of ? election. Specifically, SB 29 provides that any VBM ballot is timely cast if it is received by the voter's elections official via the USPS or a bona fide delivery company not later than three days after Election Day, as specified. Prior to the enactment of SB 29, VBM ballots in California could be counted only if they were received by the elections official by Election Day. SB 29 was introduced in response to the fact that an increasing number of VBM ballots that were returned to elections officials were arriving too late to be counted. Furthermore, given a number of recently enacted and planned USPS facility closures, there was a fear that the number of ballots arriving too late to be counted would continue to rise. According to a September 2014 report by the California Civic Engagement Project at the University of California at Davis Center for Regional Change, nearly 69,000 VBM ballots that were received by county election offices in California for the November 2012 General Election were rejected during ballot processing, with 47.8 percent of uncounted ballots being rejected because they arrived too late. Arriving late was the most common reason why a VBM ballot was rejected. COMMENTS 1)According to the author : AB 2071 will protect the integrity of California's election system by providing that only legitimate courier services that are in regular business or delivering parcels may handle and deliver VBM ballots on behalf of voters after Election Day. This includes well-known services such as DHL, FedEx, and UPS. As such, it will ensure that only legitimate votes are counted, and that no California voter is disenfranchised by the counting of ballots that have been illegally harvested or tampered with in the days following an election. AB 2071 seeks to define a "bona fide private mail delivery company." The bill defines it as a for-profit courier service AB 2071 (Harper) Page 4 of ? that is in the regular business of accepting a mail item, package, or parcel for the purpose of delivery, at a cost, to a person or entity whose address is specified on the item. 2)Suggested Amendments . Staff suggests amending the definition provided in the bill as follows: For purposes of this section, "bona fide private mail delivery company" means afor-profitcourier service that is in the regular business of accepting a mail item, package, or parcel for the purpose of delivery, at a cost,to a person or entity whose address is specified on the item.A bona fide private mail delivery company includes, but is not limited to, DHL, Federal Express Corporation, and United Parcel Service.Staff is not aware of any non-profit delivery or courier services but if one existed the law should not prohibit their use. It is also unclear why the law should mandate that the delivery be at a cost. This statute should not prohibit a courier service from offering to deliver VBM ballots for free nor should it prohibit a governmental jurisdiction from contracting with a courier service so voters won't have to pay for postage. Lastly, there is no reason to name specific companies in the code - it implies that the state is recommending or promoting these particular businesses over their current or future competitors. RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION AB 1921 (Gonzalez), which is also before this committee, permits a VBM voter who is unable to return his or her ballot to designate any person to return the ballot, as specified. AB 1271 (Grove of 2015), would have required the disqualification of VBM ballots that are received after Election Day if those ballots are delivered by a bona fide private mail delivery company or if those ballots have no postmark, a postmark with no date, or an illegible postmark. AB 1271 failed passage in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee. SB 29 (Correa, Chapter 618, Statutes of 2014), provided that a VBM ballot is timely cast if it is received by the voter's elections official via the USPS or a bona fide private mail AB 2071 (Harper) Page 5 of ? delivery company no later than three days after election day, as specified. PRIOR ACTION ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Assembly Floor: |77 - 0 | |--------------------------------------+---------------------------| |Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 7 - 0 | |Committee: | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ POSITIONS Sponsor: Author Support: Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Oppose: None received -- END --