BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 49
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Date of Hearing: August 24, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Chair
SB
49 (Runner) - As Amended June 23, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Elections: special elections.
SUMMARY: Permits the Governor to declare a candidate for
legislative office elected at a special primary election to fill
a legislative vacancy, as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the Governor, if only one candidate for a
legislative office qualifies to have his or her name printed
on a special primary election ballot to fill a legislative
vacancy, to declare the candidate elected.
2)Provides that the special primary election and special general
election will not be held if the Governor declares a candidate
elected pursuant to the provisions of this bill and requires
the Governor to rescind the proclamation calling the special
election.
3)Contains an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take effect
immediately upon enactment.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the Governor, whenever there is a vacancy in the
office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the
Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State (SOS), Controller,
Treasurer, or Attorney General, or on the State Board of
Equalization, to nominate a person to fill the vacancy who
shall take office and hold the office for the balance of the
unexpired term upon confirmation by a majority of the
membership of the Senate and a majority of the membership of
the Assembly, as specified.
2)Requries the Governor, within 14 calendar days of the
occurrence of a vacancy in a congressional or legislative
office, to issue a proclamation calling a special election, as
specified.
3)Provides that no special election shall be held if a vacancy
occurs in a legislative office after the close of the
nomination period in the final year of the term of office.
4)Requires a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of
Representative in Congress, State Senator, or Member of the
Assembly to be conducted on a Tuesday at least 126 days, but
not more than 140 days, following the issuance of an election
proclamation by the Governor, except that the special election
may be conducted within 180 days following the proclamation in
order for the election or the primary to be consolidated with
the next regularly scheduled statewide election or local
election occurring wholly or partially within the same
territory in which the vacancy exists, provided that the
voters eligible to vote in the local election comprise at
least 50 percent of all the voters eligible to vote on the
vacancy.
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5)Requires a special primary election to be held in the district
in which the vacancy occurred on the 9th or 10th Tuesday
preceding the day of the special general election at which the
vacancy is to be filled, as specified.
6)Requires the nomination papers for the special vacancy
elections described above to be submitted to the appropriate
county elections official for examination not less than 53
days before the primary election.
7)Requires every person who desires to be a write-in candidate
and have his or her name written on the ballot of an election
counted for a particular office to file with the appropriate
elections official a statement of write-in candidacy no later
than 14 days prior to the election.
8)Prohibits a person from being a write-in candidate at the
general election for a voter-nominated office.
9)Provides that if any candidate receives a majority of all
votes cast at a special primary election, he or she shall be
declared elected, and no special general election shall be
held.
10)Provides that if only one candidate qualifies to have his or
her name printed on the special general election ballot, that
candidate shall be declared elected, and no special general
election shall be held.
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11)Provides that if only one person has filed nomination papers
for a municipal office, the governing body of the city may
appoint that person to the office instead of holding the
election.
12)Provides that if only one person has filed nomination papers
for a district office, the supervising authority of the
district may appoint that person to the office instead of
holding the election unless a petition is filed that is signed
by 10 percent of the voters or 50 voters, whichever is the
smaller number, in the district or division if elected by
division, requesting that the general district election be
held.
13)Provides that if only the incumbent has filed nomination
papers for the office of superior court judge, his or her name
will not appear on the ballot unless within 10 days after the
filing deadline a petition is filed indicating that a write-in
campaign will be conducted for the office which is signed by
one-tenth of one percent of the registered voters qualified to
vote for that office, except that the petition must have no
fewer than 100 and does not need more than 600 signatures.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
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Earlier this year a special election was conducted to fill
a vacancy in Senate District 21. Senator Runner was the
only candidate who qualified to appear on the ballot. A
similar circumstance prevailed during the election of
Senator Carol Migden in 1996. In fact, since 1979 there has
only been 3 instances where this was the case. While most
candidates may desire an election where they are the only
qualified candidate on the ballot, I was troubled by the
enormous cost to our counties and ultimately to taxpayers
to conduct such an election. In the Senate District
election to fill the vacancy, Los Angeles County spent $1.4
million while San Bernardino incurred costs of $221,000.
2)New Authority for the Governor: Article 5, Section 5 of the
California Constitution vests the Governor with appointing
authority to fill vacancies in specified offices.
Specifically, Section 5 requires the Governor, whenever there
is a vacancy in the office of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Lieutenant Governor, SOS, Controller, Treasurer,
or Attorney General, or on the State Board of Equalization, to
nominate a person to fill the vacancy who shall take office
upon confirmation by a majority of the membership of the
Senate and a majority of the membership of the Assembly.
However, if there is a congressional or legislative vacancy,
state law requires a special election to be held to fill that
vacancy, as specified. This bill provides the Governor with
new authority to declare a candidate for legislative office
elected to fill a legislative vacancy. Specifically, this
bill authorizes the Governor to declare a candidate elected to
fill a legislative vacancy if only one candidate qualifies to
have his or her name appear on the special primary election
ballot. In addition, this bill provides that the special
primary election and special general election will not be held
if the Governor declares a candidate for legislative office
elected pursuant to the provisions of this bill and requires
the Governor to rescind the proclamation calling the special
elections.
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3)Recent Proliferation of Special Vacancy Elections: Since
2009, there have been a total of 37 special elections to fill
legislative vacancies in California, the majority of which
were not consolidated with statewide elections. Special
vacancy elections are generally unexpected; therefore,
counties cannot forecast the cost in their budgets. According
to county elections officials affected by special elections,
costs associated with conducting special elections result in
an average of $1 million, depending on the size of the county
or counties affected. Costs are much lower if the vacancy
election is consolidated with another election.
4)State Funding of Vacancy Elections: From 1993 through 2007,
the state reimbursed California counties for the costs of
special elections held to fill legislative and congressional
vacancies. However, the provision of state law that required
the state to reimburse counties for these costs expired
January 1, 2008. Since 2008, numerous bills to continue state
reimbursement have all failed passage in the Legislature.
Following the expiration of reimbursement provisions, counties
have been forced to redirect important resources budgeted for
critical community services to cover the unanticipated costs
of conducting mandated special elections.
5)Filling Legislative Vacancies in Other States: According to
the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), states
vary widely on how they fill a legislative vacancy. In
general, a vacancy is filled either through a special election
or by appointment. According to NCSL, 25 states hold a
special election to fill a vacancy. These elections may be
ordered by the governor or other official after being notified
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of the vacancy. The other 25 states fill a vacancy through
some form of appointment process. Again, there is
considerable variation among the states in terms of who makes
the appointment, and whether the appointee must be of the same
political party as the person vacating the seat.
6)No Write-In Candidates Allowed: While current law prohibits a
person from being a write-in candidate at a general election
for a voter-nominated office, it permits write-in candidates
at primary elections. Existing law requires a candidate's
nomination papers for a special primary election to be
submitted to the appropriate elections officials for
examination and filed with the SOS not less than 53 days prior
to the primary election. A write-in candidate, however, is
required to have his or her nomination papers filed 14 days
prior to the election. This bill permits the Governor to
cancel a special primary election and a special general
election for a legislative vacancy if only one candidate files
his or her nomination papers by the deadline and qualifies to
have his or her name appear on the special primary ballot. In
order words, if only one candidate submits his or her
nomination papers by the 53-day deadline and qualifies to have
his or her name on the special primary election ballot, the
provisions of this bill authorize the Governor to declare that
candidate for legislative office elected. As a result this
would preclude potential write-in candidates from being able
to seek the office as the deadline to file nominations papers
for a write-in candidate is 14 days prior to the election. As
mentioned above, such a precedent exists for some local
offices although in some cases, voters can force the election
to be held by filing a petition containing a specified number
of signatures. According to the SOS's certified list of
write-in candidates for this year's special primary election
for Senate District 21, six write-in candidates qualified to
have votes counted for their candidacies at the special
primary election.
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7)Related Legislation: AB 971 (Chang), requires the state to
pay for all expenses authorized and incurred in the
preparation for and conduct of a special election proclaimed
by the Governor to fill a legislative or congressional
vacancy, as specified. This bill was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
8)Previous Legislation: SCA 16 (Steinberg) of 2014, would have
required the Governor to fill a vacancy in either house of the
Legislature by appointment within 21 days of the date of the
vacancy, as specified. SCA 16 was never heard in this
committee.
9)Arguments in Support: In support, the California State
Association of Counties writes:
While this circumstance does not frequently occur, this
measure is still important for two reasons. First, it
could provide significant cost savings for the counties
where a special election must be held to fill a vacancy.
It is estimated that the four special elections scheduled
for 2015 alone could total as much as $6 million dollars.
As you may know, the cost burden for elections to fill
state legislative? seats falls to the county. There is
currently no reimbursement for this type of contest.
Second, following action by the Secretary of State,
legislative? vacancies could be filled more quickly and
reduce the gap in representation for local communities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support Opposition
California Association of Clerks and Election OfficialsNone on
file.
California State Association of Counties
County of San Bernardino
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
Analysis Prepared by:Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094