BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2455
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2455 (Chiu) - As Amended April 6, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill:
1)Requires the California State University (CSU) and the
California Community Colleges (CCC), and encourages the
University of California (UC), by July 1, 2018, to begin
allowing a person enrolling online at the institution to
AB 2455
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submit voter registration information electronically on the
Secretary of State's (SOS's) website.
2)Declares legislative intent that enacting the above is a
preliminary measure toward establishing an automatic voter
registration system for those enrolled at the state's public
colleges and universities.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor absorbable costs to CSU, CCC, and UC to provide the a link
to the SOS's online voter registration website.
COMMENTS:
1)Background and Purpose. Following the launch of California's
online voter registration system, the Student Voter
Registration Act was updated by AB 1446 (Mullin), Chapter 593,
Statutes of 2014, required that an automated class
registration system permit students to apply to register to
vote online by submitting an affidavit of voter registration
electronically through the SOS's website. According to an
annual report prepared by the SOS, in 2015, 14,669 students at
CCC, CSU, and UC campuses completed a voter registration
application online using the process established by the
Student Voter Registration Act.
This bill would require the CCC and the CSU systems, and would
request the UC system, to create a similar process to the one
that exists under the Student Voter Registration Act, that
would allow a student to submit an electronic voter
registration affidavit at the time he or she enrolls online.
AB 2455
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2)California New Motor Voter Program. AB 1461 (Gonzalez),
Chapter 729, Statutes of 2015, also known as the California
New Motor Voter Program (CNMVP), provides for every person who
submits an application for a driver's license or state
identification card, or provides the DMV with a change of
address, and who attests that he or she meets all voter
eligibility requirements, to be registered to vote, unless
that person opts out. The process established under the CNMVP
is sometimes referred to as "automatic" or "automated" voter
registration. It is unlikely that CNMVP will be implemented
prior to the middle of 2017.
This bill declares the intent of the Legislature to take
preliminary measures towards the establishment of an automatic
voter registration system for California citizens enrolled at
state public college and university campuses. As discussed in
the analysis of this bill by the Assembly Elections Committee,
there would be some significant technical obstacles, and very
significant costs, to implementing such a system similar to
CNMVP.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081