BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 163|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 163
Author: Hertzberg (D)
Amended: 6/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/21/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Elections: vote by mail ballot
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes a two-year pilot project in Los
Angeles County that requires county elections officials to issue
a vote by mail (VBM) ballot to every registered voter in the
county for statewide primary, special, and general elections.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires that a VBM ballot be furnished to any registered
voter upon written application to the appropriate elections
official prior to the election, as specified.
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2)Permits any registered voter to become a permanent VBM voter.
3)Provides that any VBM voter who is unable to surrender his or
her VBM ballot shall be issued a provisional ballot at his or
her polling place or from the elections official.
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
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 school district or city with a population of
100,000 or less to conduct an all-mail ballot election to fill
a vacancy in a special election.
6)Authorizes a district to conduct any election as an all-mailed
ballot election on any date other than an established election
date.
7)Provides that whenever there are 250 or fewer people
registered to vote in any precinct, the elections official may
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deem the precinct as an all-mail ballot precinct, and provides
that no precinct may be divided solely in order to create an
all-mail precinct.
8)Permits Yolo County and San Mateo County, as part of a pilot
program lasting through January 1, 2018, to conduct elections
on up to three dates as all-mailed ballot elections, subject
to specified conditions, including voter education, and
reporting requirements.
9)Permits San Diego County to conduct special elections to fill
legislative and congressional vacancies by mailed ballot as a
pilot project through 2020 subject to specified conditions,
including voter education, and reporting requirements.
10)Requires elections officials to provide a sufficient number
of ballots to each precinct polling place to reasonably meet
the needs of the voters in that precinct on Election Day, but
in no case shall that number be less than 75% of the number
of registered voters in the precinct.
11)Provides that whenever a jurisdiction is divided into
election precincts or whenever the boundary of an established
precinct is changed or a new precinct is created, the
precinct boundary shall be fixed in a manner so that the
number of voters in the precinct does not exceed 1,000 on the
88th day prior to the day of election, unless otherwise
provided by law.
12) Permits an elections official to subtract the number of
permanent vote by mail voters, from the total number of
voters for purposes of complying with the 1,000 voter
precinct limit if after subtracting the number of permanent
vote by mail voters, the number of voters in the precinct
does not exceed the percentage of nonpermanent vote by mail
voters in the jurisdiction on the 88th day prior to the
election multiplied by 1,000, unless otherwise provided by
law.
13) Provides that the elections official conducting local,
special, or consolidated
elections, or statewide elections other than the direct
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primary, presidential primary, or general
election, may divide the territory within which the election
is to be held into special election or consolidated election
precincts by consolidating existing precincts, and may
change and alter the precincts for those elections as often
as occasion requires. Not more than six existing precincts
may be consolidated into one special election or
consolidated election precinct. The polling place used for a
consolidated precinct shall be located within the boundaries
of the consolidated precinct.
14) Requires the elections official to provide a sufficient
number of official ballots in each precinct to reasonably
meet the needs of the voters in that precinct on election
day using the precinct's voter turnout history as the
criterion, but in no case shall this number be less than 75%
of registered voters in the precinct, and for vote by mail
and emergency purposes shall provide the additional number
of ballots that may be necessary.
This bill:
1)Establishes a pilot project in Los Angeles County that
requires the county elections official in conjunction with the
Secretary of State to issue a VBM ballot to every registered
voter in the county for statewide primary, special, and
general elections.
2)Provides that the pilot project shall be in effect between
January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018.
3)Provides that the elections official may mail the VBM ballots
together with other elections materials issued by the county
to reduce overall mailing expenses.
4)Requires the elections official to consider reducing or
consolidating precincts in anticipation of a reduction in the
number of voters who vote at precinct polling places, subject
to existing law.
5)Permits the elections official to provide each polling place
with ballots equal in number to not less than 50% of the
registered voters in the precinct.
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6)Requires the elections official to engage in voter education
efforts to increase voter awareness of the VBM pilot program.
As part of the voter education efforts, voters shall be
encouraged, if they intend to vote at the polling place, to
bring their VBM ballot to the polling place to streamline
their voting process.
7)Requires the elections official to report on the voter turnout
to the Secretary of State for any election conducted pursuant
to this pilot project.
Background
Statewide Voter Turnout. According to the Secretary of State,
only 25.17% of all registered California voters cast a ballot in
the June 3, 2014 Primary Election and only 42.20% for the
November 4, 2014 General Election. Participation was especially
poor in Los Angeles County where turnout of registered voters
was a mere 16.97% in the Primary Election and just 31.01% for
the General Election. Since over 27% of all registered voters in
California reside in Los Angeles County, low turnout there has
an enormous statistical impact on overall statewide turnout.
Since 1960, turnout of registered voters in California
non-presidential General Elections has steadily decreased from a
high of 79.2% in 1966 to a previous low of 50.57% in 2002.
Turnout for non-presidential Primary Elections since 1960 has
also steadily decreased from a high of 68.88% in 1978 (when
Proposition 13 appeared on the ballot) to a previous low of
33.31% in 2010.
On average, voter turnout was poor across the entire country in
2014. According to a study by the organization Nonprofit VOTE,
last year fewer than 37% of all eligible voters nationwide
turned out to vote, the lowest level of voter turnout seen in a
non-presidential election year since World War II. However, the
study also points out that California ranked 43rd in turnout of
eligible voters among the 50 states and District of Columbia at
a mere 30.8%. Please note that these national figures represent
eligible voters (all persons who are qualified to vote, whether
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registered or not) as opposed to actual registered voters, as
referenced in the paragraphs above.
Theories abound as to why voter participation in California was
so low for both 2014 elections. One of the more popular
theories among the press and other observers is that
California's statewide ballot lacked the kind of high profile,
competitive contest that would motivate voters to participate in
greater numbers. After all, for the November 6, 2012 General
Election (a presidential election featuring incumbent President
Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney), turnout among
registered California voters was 72.36%. In fact, with the
exception of the November 5, 1996 Election (65.53%), every
presidential election in California since 1912 has seen turnout
among registered voters over 70%. Even the "off-year" November
2, 2010 General Election which benefited from a more competitive
race for Governor between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman saw
turnout of registered voters over 59% -- more than 18% higher
than 2014.
In fact, Nonprofit VOTE's study found that voter turnout
averaged 11 points higher in the 22 states with competitive
statewide races for U.S. Senate or Governor compared to states
without a competitive statewide race. Nine of the top ten
turnout states had competitive statewide races.
Nonprofit VOTE's study also found that states with Election Day
Registration (EDR) far outpaced states that don't allow voters
to register or fix a registration problem on Election Day.
Voter turnout in the EDR States averaged 48%, 12 points above
voter turnout in non-EDR states. Four states used EDR for the
first time in a midterm in 2014, bringing the total number of
states using EDR to 13. California is scheduled to implement
EDR in 2017.
Other factors such as poverty and language diversity may also
contribute to California's low turnout. Poverty and limited
English proficiency are common within communities that suffer
from poor voter participation.
VBM Popularity. California voters who use VBM ballots make up
an increasingly larger portion of the overall turnout. For
instance, 60.52% of all voters statewide in the November 4, 2014
General Election and 69.4% of all voters in the June 3, 2014
Primary Election used a VBM ballot - almost half of whom are
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permanent VBM voters.
Mail Balloting in Other States. Oregon has been conducting
all-mail ballot elections for non-partisan and ballot measure
elections for 20 years. In 1998 Oregon expanded all-mail
balloting to primary and general elections. The states of
Washington and Colorado have also recently adopted statewide
all-mail ballot elections. Unlike Oregon and Washington
however, Colorado employs a hybrid system where every voter is
mailed a ballot but numerous voting service centers are also
open 10-14 days prior to each election where voters can register
to vote, return their VBM ballots, and cast provisional ballots.
It does not appear that any other state mails every registered
voter a ballot but still maintains the traditional polling place
system that this bill proposes.
According to Nonprofit VOTE's study, Colorado ranked 3rd, Oregon
5th, and Washington 18th nationwide in voter turnout for the
2014 General Election.
Comments
1)According to the author: SB 163 will give Californians and
their families greater freedom to vote. Voters who want to
vote at the polling place will still be able to, and all
registered voters who find it more convenient to vote by mail
can do so.
Having ballots in the hands of every voter will empower
communities to have conversations about candidates and ballot
measures and will strengthen individual voters' connection
with their elected government. Individuals and families will
be able to continue the tradition of instilling the values of
civic engagement not just at the polling place, but also in
the days and weeks leading up to election day with their
ballots at home.
In maintaining a healthy democracy in California, it is
important that the residents of the state have the tools they
need to participate in every election. Broadening the ability
of Californians to engage in the democratic process will yield
more representative election results and ensure that the
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voices of more California residents are heard.
In November 2014, Californians turned out to vote in
astonishingly low numbers. Just 31 percent of registered
voters in Los Angeles County voted compared to a statewide
average of just 42 percent. Overall, roughly seven and a half
million Californians voted in an election that will affect all
38 million residents. Of all eligible voters statewide, just
30.94 percent participated in the November election. In
Contrast, Sierra County, one of two entirely vote-by-mail
counties in California, saw a 73 percent turnout rate of
registered voters - a full 31 points higher than the state
average.
2)Voter Confusion. This bill requires that every voter be
issued a VBM ballot for statewide primary, special, and
general elections but does not affect local elections which
may not be consolidated with those state elections. This may
cause significant confusion since voters will automatically
receive a VBM ballot for some elections but not others.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations committee:
Unknown, potentially $5 million - $ 9 million per statewide
election for mailing VBM ballots (General Fund)
Unknown, potentially significant savings from precinct
consolidation (General Fund)
SUPPORT: (Verified6/1/15)
California Professional Firefighters
California State Council of Service Employees International
Union
California State University, Northridge Young Democrats
City of West Hollywood
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Sierra Club California
Stonewall Democratic Club
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/1/15)
Voting Rights Task Force
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
6/2/15 13:40:51
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