Amended in Assembly May 4, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 19, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 6, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2824

Introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 15372 of, and to add Sections begin delete 15151.5 and end delete begin insert 15151.5, 19204.7, and end insert 19216.5 to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2824, as amended, Thurmond. Elections: precinct reports.

Existing law requires an elections official to transmit the semifinal official results to the Secretary of State following commencement of the semifinal official canvass. After the official canvass, existing law requires an elections official to prepare a certified statement of the results of the election and submit it to the governing body. The elections official must also post the certified statement of the results on his or her Internet Web site in a downloadable spreadsheet format that may include a comma-separated values file or a tab-separated values file and that is compatible with a spreadsheet software application that is widely used at the time of the posting. Existing law requires the certified statement of the election results to be posted and maintained on the elections official’s Internet Web site for a period of at least 10 years following the election.

This bill would require a county with the technical capacity to do so to post the information contained in the statement of the results, as well as other available election data, on its Internet Web site beginning on election night and continuing as specified until the election results are certified. This bill would require the county to post this information in downloadable spreadsheet and Election Markup Language (EML) formats, as specified. This bill would also decrease to 22 months the amount of time the certified statement of election results must be posted and maintained on the elections official’s Internet Web site.

This bill would also require a county elections official to propose a modification of its voting system to the Secretary of State begin insert by December 31, 2017, end insert for approval if modification of that system would enable the county to post required information on its Internet Web site immediately following the election, as specified.

begin insert

Existing law requires the Secretary of State to certify or conditionally approve a voting system prior to any election at which it is to be used, as specified. Existing law specifically prohibits the Secretary of State from certifying or conditionally approving a voting system that lacks certain features.

end insert begin insert

This bill would in addition prohibit the Secretary of State from certifying or conditionally approving a voting system after December 31, 2017, that is not capable of generating information contained in the statement of the result in both downloadable spreadsheet and Election Markup Language (EML) formats and enabling data to be transferred from this system to an external digital medium, as specified.

end insert

By imposing additional obligations on county elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 15151.5 is added to the Elections Code,
to read:

15151.5.  

(a) A county with the technical capacity to do so
shall post the following information on its Internet Web site:

(1) A statement of the results showing all of the following:

(A) The total number of ballots cast.

(B) The number of votes cast at each precinct for each candidate
and for and against each measure.

(C) The total number of votes cast for each candidate and for
and against each measure.

(D) The number of votes cast in each city, Assembly district,
congressional district, senatorial district, State Board of
Equalization district, and supervisorial district located in whole or
in part in the county, for each candidate for the offices of
presidential elector and all statewide offices, depending on the
offices to be filled, and on each statewide ballot proposition.

(2) Precinct data for vote by mail ballots, provisional ballots,
spoiled ballots, and any other data readily available on the
computer system.

(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a county shall
provide the information required by subdivision (a) in both
downloadable spreadsheet and Election Markup Language (EML)
formats. The spreadsheet may include a comma-separated values
file or a tab-separated values file that is compatible with a
spreadsheet software application widely used at the time of the
posting.

(2)  A county that does not have the technical capacity to provide
the information in both formats described in paragraph (1) shall
provide the information in whichever format it is able.

(c)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Following commencement of the semifinal official
canvass, a county elections official shall post the information
described in subdivision (a) at the end of election night, daily
through the first Friday after election day, and, thereafter, weekly
on Fridays until the results are certified pursuant to Section 15372.

begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if at any time the required
information has not changed since the time it was last posted, the
county elections official may post a statement to that effect in lieu
of reposting the information described in subdivision (a).

end insert

(d) A county that could comply with this section if its voting
system were modified shall comply with Section 19216.5

SEC. 2.  

Section 15372 of the Elections Code is amended to
read:

15372.  

(a) The elections official shall prepare a certified
statement of the results of the election and submit it to the
governing body within 30 days of the election or, in the case of
school district, community college district, county board of
education, or special district elections conducted on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November of odd-numbered
years, no later than the last Monday before the last Friday of that
month.

(b) The elections official shall post the certified statement of
the results of the election on his or her Internet Web site in a
downloadable spreadsheet format that may include, but is not
limited to, a comma-separated values file or a tab-separated values
file and that is compatible with a spreadsheet software application
that is widely used at the time of the posting. The certified
statement of the election results shall be posted and maintained on
the elections official’s Internet Web site for a period of at least 22
months following the election. This subdivision shall apply only
to an elections official who uses a computer system that has the
capability of producing the election results in a downloadable
spreadsheet format without requiring modification of the computer
system.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 19204.7 is added to the end insert begin insert Elections Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 19204.7. end insert   

After December 31, 2017, the Secretary of State shall
not certify or conditionally approve any voting system that is not
capable of all of the following:

(1) Generating the information described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 15151.5 in both downloadable
spreadsheet and Election Markup Language (EML) formats. The
spreadsheet may include a comma-separated values file or a
tab-separated values file that is compatible with a spreadsheet
software application widely used at the time of the posting.

(2) Enabling data to be transferred from the system to an
external digital medium so that the data can safely be transferred
to a computer connected to the Internet.

end insert

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete

begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

Section 19216.5 is added to the Elections Code, to
read:

19216.5.  

A county elections official of a county that could
comply with Section 15151.5 if its voting system were modified
begin delete shall end delete begin insert shall, by December 31, 2017, end insert propose a modification to the
Secretary of State for approval pursuant to Section 19216.

begin delete SEC. 4. end delete

begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.