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:  8/15/16 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.


          Senate Floor Amendments of 8/15/16 add language to the Elections  








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          Code to specify that the Secretary of State is to 1) update a  
          voter's registration information based on information received  
          from the Department of Motor Vehicles; and, 2) leave as part of  
          a voter's record information from the voter's previous affidavit  
          of registration that was not included in the voter's most recent  
          affidavit of registration.


          ANALYSIS:  

          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  








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            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)

          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.

          3)Requires the SOS to:

             a)   Update a voter's registration information based on  
               information received from the DMV; and,

             b)   Leave as part of a voter's record information from the  
               voter's previous affidavit of registration that was not  
               included in the voter's most recent affidavit of  
               registration.

          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.   








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          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  
          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."










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          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:


           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:   (Verified8/15/16)


          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


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/15/16)


          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








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          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
          8/16/16 17:38:42


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