BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2686|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2686
Author: Mullin (D) and Gonzalez (D)
Amended: 6/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 6/21/16
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-20, 5/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Elections: all-mailed ballot elections
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill allows a county to conduct a legislative or
congressional vacancy election as a mailed ballot election as
part of a pilot project, subject to certain conditions, if more
than half the voters in the county are permanent vote by mail
(VBM) voters. Allows for an ongoing mailed ballot election
pilot project in San Diego County, and broadens the scope of
that pilot project until January 1, 2021.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Permits a special election in San Diego County, held before
January 1, 2021, to be conducted by mailed ballot subject to
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all of the following conditions:
a) The special election is being held for any of the
following purposes:
i) To fill a vacancy in the Legislature or in Congress,
and the legislative or congressional district lies wholly
within San Diego County;
ii) To fill a vacancy on the governing body of San Diego
County, or of any city, school district, community
college district, special district, or other district or
political subdivision located wholly within San Diego
County; or,
iii) To vote on a local measure, other than a recall, for
San Diego County, or for any city, school district,
community college district, special district, or other
district or political subdivision located wholly within
San Diego County.
b) The governing body of the jurisdiction, or the San Diego
County Board of Supervisors in the case of a special
election to fill a vacancy in the Legislature or in
Congress, authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the
election.
c) The election does not occur on the same date as a
statewide primary or general election, or any other
election conducted in an overlapping jurisdiction that is
not consolidated and conducted wholly by mail.
d) Ballot drop-off locations, as specified, are provided
such that there is at least one location per city (if the
boundaries of the jurisdiction for which the election is
being held overlap with the boundaries of a city) and at
least one location for every 100,000 registered voters in
unincorporated areas, and such locations are open during
business hours to receive voted ballots beginning not less
than seven days before the election.
e) The elections official provides for at least six hours
of voting at a satellite location within the jurisdiction
on at least one Saturday and Sunday after the ballots are
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delivered to voters.
f) At least one polling place is provided per jurisdiction
for which the election is being held, or the polling places
are fixed in a manner so that there is one polling place
for every 10,000 registered voters within the district, as
specified, whichever results in more polling places.
Provides that a polling place shall allow voters to request
a ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of the
election if they need replacement ballots for any reason.
g) Polling places are established in accordance with
existing state and federal accessibility requirements, and
access to polling places is evenly distributed throughout
the jurisdiction for which the election is being held.
h) The elections official does the following for polling
places that consolidate one or more precincts for which the
elections official has obligations to recruit or attempt to
recruit precinct board members who are fluent in a language
in addition to English:
i) In the case of precincts covered by language
requirements in federal law, the elections official
ensures that the polling place is staffed by precinct
board members who speak that language; and,
ii) In the case of precincts covered by language
requirements in state law, the elections official makes
reasonable efforts to ensure that the polling place is
staffed by precinct board members who speak that
language.
i) Each voter receives all supplies necessary for the use
and return of the mail ballot, including a return envelope
for the voted ballot with postage prepaid.
j) Each voter receives all of the following from the
elections official:
i) A notice, translated into all languages as required
by state and federal law, that informs voters of the
following:
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(1) That the election is being conducted by mail
and that each eligible voter will receive a ballot by
mail;
(2) The voter may cast a ballot in person at a
satellite location; and,
(3) The voter may request the county elections
official to send a ballot in a language other than
English pursuant to state and federal law.
ii) A list of the ballot drop-off, satellite, and
polling place locations, and that list is posted on the
Internet Web site of the county elections office; and,
iii) A postage-paid postcard that the voter may return to
the elections official for the purpose of requesting a
ballot in a language other than English.
aa) The elections official submits a voter education and
outreach plan to the SOS that includes all of the
following:
i) Education and outreach meetings, and in-person
educational workshops, related to providing voting
materials and assistance in languages other than English,
and ensuring the accessibility of the election process
for individuals with disabilities.
ii) A toll-free voter assistance hotline, as specified,
that is operational between the date that ballots are
mailed to voters until 5 p.m. on the day after the
special election.
iii) Public service announcements, as specified,
informing voters of the upcoming election and promoting
the voter assistance hotline.
iv) A voter education social media strategy, as
specified.
bb) The voter education and outreach plan is posted on the
Web sites of the SOS and of the elections official.
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cc) Election results for the special election are reported
by precincts, and the elections official maintains records
of persons who voted in the election, as specified, for a
minimum of 10 years.
2)Allows local elections held on no more than three different
dates in Monterey, Sacramento, San Mateo, and Yolo counties to
be conducted wholly by mail, as part of a pilot project
lasting through January 1, 2018, subject to certain
conditions.
3)Requires Monterey, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, or Yolo
County, if it conducts an election by mailed ballot pursuant
to one of the pilot projects detailed above, to report to the
Legislature and to the SOS regarding the success of the
election, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
a) Any statistics on the cost to conduct the election;
b) The turnout of different populations, including, but not
limited to and to the extent possible, the population
categories of race, ethnicity, language preference (for the
San Diego pilot project only), age, gender, disability,
permanent VBM status, and political party preference;
c) The number of ballots that were not counted and the
reasons they were rejected;
d) Voter fraud; and,
e) Any other problems that became known to the county
during the election or canvass.
Requires the report, whenever possible, to compare the
election conducted under the pilot project to similar
elections not conducted as mailed ballot elections in the same
jurisdiction or comparable jurisdictions.
4)Permits an election to be conducted wholly by mail if the
governing body authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the
election, the election occurs on an established mailed ballot
election date, and the election is one of the following:
a) An election in which no more than 1,000 registered
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voters are eligible to participate;
b) An election in a city, county, or district with 5,000 or
fewer registered voters that is restricted to the
imposition of special taxes, expenditure limitation
overrides, or both;
c) An election on the issuance of a general obligation
water bond;
d) An election in one of four specifically enumerated water
districts; or,
e) An election or assessment ballot proceeding required or
authorized by the state constitution under Proposition 218.
5)Authorizes a city with a population of 100,000 or less or a
school district to conduct any special election held to fill a
vacancy as a mailed ballot election.
6)Authorizes a district to conduct any election as a mailed
ballot election on any date other than an established election
date.
7)Permits every registered voter to request a VBM ballot for an
election, and permits every registered voter to become a
permanent VBM voter who automatically receives a VBM ballot
for every election in which he or she is eligible to vote.
This bill:
1)Expands a previously-authorized pilot project that allows San
Diego County to conduct special elections as mailed ballot
elections, subject to certain conditions, to allow the
following types of elections to be conducted under the pilot
project:
a) Elections that are occurring in local government
agencies that include territory outside of San Diego
County, provided that only the San Diego County-portion of
the election is conducted pursuant to the terms of the
pilot project; and,
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b) Local recall elections.
2)Allows any county, until January 1, 2021, to conduct a special
election to fill a vacancy in Congress or the Legislature as a
mailed ballot election as part of a pilot project that is
subject to similar conditions as the San Diego pilot project,
with the following key differences:
a) Permits a special election to be conducted under the
pilot project even if the congressional or legislative
district is not wholly contained within the county.
b) Permits a county to participate in the pilot program
only if at least 50% of the voters in the county are
permanent VBM voters.
c) Requires the county elections official to consider
proximity to public transportation when determining polling
place locations.
3)Requires the county elections official deliver to each voter a
notice, in addition to the notice required by existing law,
translated in all languages required under subdivision Section
203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, that informs
voters that an all-mailed ballot election is being conducted.
Permits the county elections official to send only one notice
to a household if multiple registered voters reside within
that household.
4)Requires the county elections official report the registration
rates, participation rates, and rejection rates, including the
reasons for rejection, of permanent vote by mail voters and
in-person voters for the county. If the information is
readily available, the county elections official shall include
any statistics on the turnout of different populations,
including, but not limited to, the population categories of
race, ethnicity, language preference, age, gender, and
disability. If the data reflects significant disparities in
voter accessibility and participation, the county elections
official shall include a statement of how he or she plans to
address each disparity in the voter education and outreach
plan submitted to the Legislature and SOS.
5)Requires the county elections official to establish a
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community election advisory committee that consists of
community members representing minority groups covered under
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and existing law, and
voters with disabilities including, but not limited to,
mobility, sensory, physical, and mental disabilities.
6)Permits the county elections official to establish, in lieu of
a community election advisory committee, both a local voting
accessibility advisory committee pursuant to the guidelines
promulgated by the SOS and a local language accessibility
advisory committee. Requires the local language accessibility
advisory committee to consist of community members
representing minority groups covered under the federal Voting
Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10101 et seq.).
7)Requires the advisory committee or committees to hold at least
one meeting in the year prior to an all-mailed ballot election
conducted pursuant to this bill.
8)Makes corresponding and technical changes.
Background
Existing Mailed Ballot Pilot Projects: Two years ago, the
Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB 1873 (Gonzalez
and Mullin, Chapter 598, Statutes of 2014), which allowed
special elections in San Diego County to fill vacancies in the
Legislature and Congress to be conducted by mailed ballot until
2020, subject to certain conditions. Last year, the Legislature
approved and the Governor signed AB 547 (Gonzalez, Chapter 727,
Statutes of 2015), which modified some of the conditions in the
San Diego pilot project, extended the sunset date by a year, and
significantly expanded the types of elections that are allowed
to be conducted as mailed ballot elections pursuant to the pilot
project.
In addition to the San Diego pilot project that was authorized
by AB 1873, there is another ongoing pilot project authorized by
the Legislature and the Governor to examine the use of mailed
ballot elections for local elections. That pilot project was
originally authorized by AB 413 (Yamada, Chapter 187, Statutes
of 2011), which allows Yolo County to conduct local elections on
not more than three dates as mailed ballot elections. AB 413
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was intended to serve as a pilot project to evaluate the
desirability of further expanding the circumstances under which
elections are permitted to be conducted as mailed ballot
elections. Yolo County conducted mailed ballot elections in
March 2013 in the City of Davis and the Washington Unified
School District as permitted by AB 413, and submitted its report
on those elections in December 2013. Yolo County is permitted
to conduct local elections as mailed ballot elections on two
additional dates before the conclusion of the pilot project.
In 2014, legislation was enacted to allow San Mateo County to
join Yolo County in participating in that ongoing pilot project
(AB 2028 (Mullin, Chapter 209, Statutes of 2014), and last year,
the pilot project was further expanded to include Monterey and
Sacramento Counties (AB 1504 (Alejo, Chapter 730, Statutes of
2015). San Mateo County conducted an election under that pilot
project in November 2015, but it has not yet submitted the
required report from that election.
Comments
1) According to the author, California consistently faces a
combination of low turnout and high cost when special
elections are called due to a vacancy in the Legislature or
Congress. In the last 5 years, including 27 special
elections for a vacancy (excluding recalls and those
consolidated with a statewide election), the average overall
turnout was 15.57%. In some instances, turnout was as low as
5.55%. While California struggles with a voter turnout
crisis even in general elections, special elections are even
more likely to result in vast underrepresentation due to low
turnout.
Aside from low turnout, special elections are extremely
costly, and local jurisdictions are not reimbursed by the
state, meaning local taxpayers pick up the tab for these
expensive elections. Costs vary from county to county, but
special elections can cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1
million or more, and due to the unexpected nature of special
elections the cost is not usually built into the local
budget.
AB 2686 will allow counties more flexibility in conducting
costly special elections by allowing them to conduct them via
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all-mailed ballot.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/22/16)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California State Association of Counties
County of San Bernardino
County of San Diego
Rural County Representatives of California
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/22/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 57-20, 5/23/16
AYES: Alejo, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Gallagher,
Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Beth
Gaines, Gatto, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder,
Maienschein, Mathis, Melendez, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner,
Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Eggman, Patterson
Prepared by:Frances Tibon Estoista / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
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7/29/16 12:28:44
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