BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2455|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2455
Author: Chiu (D) and Bonta (D), et al.
Amended: 6/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-2, 6/15/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Huff, Vidak
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 6/21/16
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 4-2, 8/1/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mendoza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 52-23, 5/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Electronic voter registration: public postsecondary
educational institutions
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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.
ANALYSIS:
AB 2455
Page 2
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 (SOS). (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 voter
registration purposes. Requires the 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 (UC) 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 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 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)
AB 2455
Page 3
This bill:
1)Requires the CSU and the CCC, and request the UC, by July 1,
2018, to implement a process and the infrastructure to allow a
person who enrolls online at the institution to submit an
affidavit of voter registration electronically on the 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.
Comments
Another venue. Existing law requires 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.
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 CCC, CSU and UC; how many voter registration
forms were 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-registrat
ion.pdf]
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
AB 2455
Page 4
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 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."
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
would impose the following costs:
Minor costs to the CSU, CCC, and UC to provide a link or
redirect students online to the SOS Web site regarding voter
registration.
Unknown, but likely minor costs to SOS related to the increase
in printing the Voter Information Guide.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/3/16)
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla
California Common Cause
California League of Conservation Voters
Sierra Club California
University of California
University of California Student Association
AB 2455
Page 5
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/3/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 52-23, 5/23/16
AYES: Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gatto, Grove, Harper, Jones,
Kim, Lackey, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte,
Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Eggman, Hadley, Linder, Patterson
Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/3/16 19:45:59
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