BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2089 (Quirk) - Vote by mail ballots: voter notification
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|Version: June 9, 2016 |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 4 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2089 would require a county elections official to
notify a voter if his or her vote by mail (VBM) ballot was not
counted.
Fiscal
Impact: This bill could result in unknown General Fund
reimbursable costs, likely in excess of $50,000 each election
cycle, to reimburse counties.
Background: Current law requires county elections officials to
establish a free access system to allow a voters to learn (1)
whether their VBM ballot was counted, and (2) 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
AB 2089 (Quirk) Page 1 of
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a toll-free number or visiting the county elections officials
Internet website and answering a few questions.
The California Voter Foundation released a report in 2014
analyzing VBM voting in California 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
registration.
Proposed Law:
This bill would require 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.
Related
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.
Staff
Comments: This bill would require local election officials to
notify VBM voters that their ballot was not counted; however, it
is unclear how that notification would be accomplished. Based on
data from the November 2012 election, and assuming an average of
cost of one dollar per VBM voter to mail them notification,
costs to counties would total roughly $60,000. Thus, costs from
the bill for each election cycle (primary and general election)
would total roughly $100,000, excluding local and special
elections.
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