BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Shirley Weber, Chair
AB 2089
(Quirk) - As Amended March 17, 2016
SUBJECT: Vote by mail ballots: voter notification.
SUMMARY: Requires a county elections official to notify a voter
if his or her vote by mail (VBM) ballot was not counted.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that a VBM ballot must be received by the elections
official from whom it was obtained, or by a precinct board in
that jurisdiction, no later than the close of polls on
election day in order for that ballot to be counted.
2)Requires a VBM ballot identification envelope to include
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;
c) The residence address of the voter as shown on the
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affidavit of registration; and,
d) The date of signing.
3)Requires a county elections official, upon receiving a VBM
ballot, to compare the signatures
on the envelope with either of the following:
a) The signature appearing on the voter's affidavit of
registration or any previous affidavit of registration of
the voter; or,
b) The signature appearing on a form issued by an elections
official that contains the voter's signature and that is
part of the voter's registration record.
4)Permits a county elections official to use facsimiles of
voters' signatures when determining if the signatures match
provided that the method of preparing and displaying the
facsimiles complies with existing law.
5)Requires the elections official, if it is determined that the
signatures compare, to deposit the ballot, still in the
identification envelope, in a ballot container.
6)Provides that if the ballot is rejected because the signatures
do not compare, the envelope shall not be opened and the
ballot shall not be counted. Requires the cause of the
rejection to be written on the face of the identification
envelope.
7)Prohibits a variation of a signature caused by the
substitution of initials for the first or middle name, or
both, to be grounds for the elections official to determine
that the signatures do not compare.
8)Authorizes an elections official, in comparing signatures, to
use signature verification technology. Prohibits an elections
official, if the signature verification technology determines
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the signatures does not compare, from rejecting the ballot
unless he or she visually examines the signatures and verifies
that the signatures do not compare.
9)Allows VBM ballots to be counted if they are cast by election
day and received by the elections official by mail no later
than three days after the election, as specified.
10)Requires the county elections official to establish a free
access system that allows a VBM voter to learn whether his or
her VBM ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the
ballot was not counted. Requires the elections official to
make the free access system available to a VBM voter upon the
completion of the official canvass and for 30 days thereafter.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
In California, a majority of voters in a general election
cast their ballots by mail. Fifty-one percent of
Californians who voted in the November 2012 election, voted
by mail. Unfortunately, 59,370 vote-by-mail ballots were
not counted by county registrars throughout the state
during the November 2012 election.
Assembly Bill 2089 requires election officials to notify
voters when their ballot was not counted in the last
election cycle. The local election officials will be
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permitted to come up with the best notification process
that would be the best fit for their area.
In California, we have a reputation for setting the right
precedent for the nation; AB 2089 will continue this
legacy.
2)What Happened to MY Ballot? The California Voter Foundation
explored VBM voting in California in their 2014 report
"Improving California's Vote-by-Mail Process: A Three-County
Study" in which they studied four elections taking place in
Orange, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties from 2008-2012. In
their study they found three primary reasons that VBM ballots
went uncounted in California elections:
a) 61 percent of the uncounted ballots arrived late;
b) 20 percent were lacking a signature; and,
c) 18 percent arrived with a signature on the envelope that
did not match the one on the voter's affidavit of
registration.
3)State Mandates: The Governor's proposed 2016-2017 State
Budget includes the suspension of various state mandates as a
mechanism for cost savings. Included in the list of possible
suspensions are elections mandates, which have also been
suspended in each of the last five budgets. The Committee may
wish to consider whether it is desirable to create additional
election mandates on counties, when current mandates are under
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consideration of suspension.
4)Previous Legislation: SB 589 (Hill), Chapter 280, Statutes of
2013, enacted provisions to require elections officials to
establish a free access system by which a VBM voter may learn
whether his or her ballot was counted and, if not, the reason
why it was not counted.
SB 1725 (Bowen) Chapter 687, Statutes of 2006, enacted
provisions requiring elections officials to establish
procedures to ensure the security, confidentiality, and
integrity of any personal information collected stored or
otherwise used in tracking VBM ballots.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
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