BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2455
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|Author: |Chiu |
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|Version: |May 3, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 15, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Electronic voter registration: public postsecondary
educational institutions
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Elections and Constitutional Amendments. A "do
pass" motion should include referral to the Committee on
Elections and Constitutional Amendments.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California State University (CSU) and the
California Community Colleges (CCC) to implement a process and
the infrastructure to allow a person who enrolls at the
institution online to submit an affidavit of voter registration
electronically.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Authorizes a person who is qualified to register to vote
and who has a valid California driver's license or state
identification card to submit an affidavit of voter
registration electronically on the Internet Web site of the
Secretary of State. (Elections Code § 2196)
2) Requires a person who registers to vote online to assent
affirmatively to the use of his or her signature from his
or her driver's license or state identification card for
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voter registration purposes. Requires the Secretary of
State (SOS) to obtain an electronic copy of the signature
of a person who registers to vote online directly from the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
(Elections Code § 2260, et seq.)
3) Requires, pursuant to the Student Voter Registration Act,
every campus of the CCCs and CSU that operates an automated
class registration system to permit students, through the
automated registration process, to apply to register to
vote online by submitting an affidavit of voter
registration electronically on the SOS's Web site.
Existing law requests campuses of the University of
California to comply with this process. (Elections Code §
2146, et seq.)
4) Requires, pursuant to the California New Motor Voter
Program, the DMV to transfer records to the SOS of each
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. Provides that the records
of a person that are transmitted from the DMV to the
Secretary of State (SOS) pursuant to this provision shall
constitute a completed affidavit of voter registration for
that person unless:
a) The person affirmatively declines to register to
vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
b) The person does not attest that he or she meets
all voter eligibility requirements while at the DMV.
c) The SOS determines that the person is not
eligible to register to vote. (Elections Code § 2260)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires the California State University (CSU) and the
California Community Colleges (CCC), and request the
University of California (UC), by July 1, 2018, to
implement a process and the infrastructure to allow a
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person who enrolls online at the institution to submit an
affidavit of voter registration electronically on the
Secretary of State's (SOS) Web site in accordance with
existing law.
2) States legislative intent to take preliminary measure
towards the establishment of an automatic voter
registration system for California citizens enrolled at
state public college and university campuses.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "In 2014,
18-24 year-olds had the lowest turnout of all age groups:
only 285,000 of 3.5 million eligible young adult voters
turned out to vote. For young people in particular, the
process of registering to vote can be a deterrent and can
present obstacles that affect their ability to register and
vote at greater levels. Young people have higher rates of
geographic mobility, which affects how frequently they must
update their voter registration information. When young
voters move or their information changes (like when they go
to college), their registration records may not be updated,
effectively keeping them off of the voter rolls."
2) Another venue. Existing law every campus of the CCC and
CSU that operates an automated class registration system to
permit students, through the automated registration
process, to apply to register to vote online by submitting
an affidavit of voter registration electronically on the
SOS's Web site. Campuses achieve this by providing a link
to the SOS Web site on the college's online course
registration, whereby students submit an affidavit of voter
registration electronically to the SOS. This bill
essentially requires campuses to provide this link when
students enroll at the campus online.
3) Annual report. Existing law requires the SOS to submit an
annual report to the Legislature on its student voter
registration efforts. The report is to include estimates
as to how many voter registration forms were sent to high
schools, campuses of the California Community College
(CCC), California State University (CSU) and University of
California (UC); how many voter registration forms were
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submitted; and how many electronic affidavits of voter
registration were submitted by students. According to the
2015 report, 14,669 students at CCC, CSU and UC campuses
completed a voter registration application online through
the course registration process.
[http://admin.cdn.sos.ca.gov/reports/2015/student-voter-regi
stration.pdf]
4) Motor Voter. This bill states that it is 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. According to the Assembly Elections
and Redistricting Committee analysis, "if the desire is to
eventually move toward a voter registration process at
colleges and universities that is similar to the
[California New Motor Voter (CNMVP)] process, there are a
number of obstacles that will need to be overcome before
such a process is feasible. Unlike the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV), the CSU and CCC systems do not typically
have digitized signatures on file for their customers
(students). Furthermore, the type of interface that the
DMVs computers have with the state's voter registration
system does not exist with the CSU and CCC systems. In
light of these facts, any future attempt to implement a
CNMVP-like the process at the CSU and CCC, systems will
face obstacles that did not exist for implementing the
program with the DMV. Furthermore, such a program at the
CSU and CCC system will reach a substantially smaller
portion of the eligible voter population than the CNMVP
will reach through the DMV."
5) Technical amendment to be taken in Elections Committee.
The provisions of this bill are located in the Chapter of
the Elections Code related to online voter registration
(Section 2196, et seq.). Staff recommends an amendment to
relocate the provisions of this bill to the Chapter of the
Elections Code related to the Student Voter Registration
Act (Section 2146, et seq.). This bill has been
double-referred to the Elections and Constitutional
Amendments Committee; due to timing, this amendment should
be adopted in the Elections Committee.
6) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
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Committee's analysis, this bill would impose minor
absorbable costs to CSU and the CCC to provide, through
online course registration, a link to the SOS's online
voter registration Web site.
SUPPORT
California Common Cause
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
University of California
OPPOSITION
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
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