BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2089 Hearing Date: 6/21/16
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|Author: |Quirk |
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|Version: |6/9/16 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Vote by mail ballots: voter notification.
DIGEST
This bill requires a county elections official to notify a voter
if his or her vote by mail (VBM) ballot was not counted.
ANALYSIS
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) 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.
3) 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;
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c) The residence address of the voter as shown on the
affidavit of registration; and,
d) The date of signing.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) 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.
7) 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, and requires the cause
of the rejection to be written on the face of the
identification envelope.
8) 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.
9) Authorizes an elections official, in comparing signatures,
to use signature verification technology. Prohibits an
elections official, if the signature verification technology
determines 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.
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10) 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.
11) 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.
This bill:
1) Requires a county elections official to notify a voter within
30 days after completion of the official canvass, if his or
her vote by mail ballot was not counted and include the
reason the ballot was not counted.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires county elections officials to establish a
free access system to allow a voter to learn if his or her VBM
ballot was counted, and if not, the reason why the ballot was
not counted. This system is required to be available to VBM
voters upon the completion of the official canvass and for 30
days thereafter, with responsibility on the voter to determine
the VBM ballot status by either phoning into a toll-free number
or visiting the county elections officials Internet website and
answering a few questions.
Dude, where's my vote ? In its 2014 report, "Improving
California's Vote-by-Mail Process: A Three-County Study," the
California Voter Foundation explored VBM voting in California in
elections taking place in Orange, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz
counties from 2008-2012. The study cited three primary reasons
that VBM ballots went uncounted in California elections:
1) 61 percent of the uncounted ballots arrived late;
2) 20 percent were lacking a signature; and,
3) 18 percent arrived with a signature on the envelope
that did not match the one on the voter's affidavit of
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registration.
COMMENTS
1) 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 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) Would you like that in a postcard, voicemail, or text ?
Although this bill requires local election officials to
notify a VBM voter that their ballot was not counted, it is
unclear how that notification would be accomplished. The
author's office has advised Committee staff that the method
of notification would be left up to each of the individual
election officials. As such, is this an issue area that
might benefit from SOS regulation?
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 589 (Hill, Chapter 280, Statutes of 2013), requires 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), required
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.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |69 - 3 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |16 - 3 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 4 - 2 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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