BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 417 Hearing Date: 4/7/15
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|Author: |Stone |
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|Version: |2/25/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Frances Tibon Estoista |
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Subject: Elections: election day procedures
DIGEST
This bill would authorize the precinct board of a county with a
geographic area of at least 2500 square miles to remove the
ballot container or containers from the polling place while the
polls remain open only to facilitate the early delivery of
ballots to the receiving centers or central counting places.
The bill would require the Secretary of State (SOS) to adopt
regulations for the secure delivery and transfer of the ballots
to the receiving center or central counting place.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1. Establishes procedures for processing ballots following the
closing of the polls on Election Day. Specifically, the
members of the precinct board must conduct a reconciliation
ensuring that all ballots delivered to them are accounted for
whether voted, unused, spoiled, or canceled.
2. Prohibits the removal of a ballot container from a polling
place or the presence of any persons assembled at the polling
place until all the ballots are counted and prohibits the
ballot container from being opened until after the polls are
closed.
This bill:
SB 417 (Stone) Page 2
of ?
1. Allows a precinct board to remove the ballot container or
containers from the polling place while the polls remain open
only to facilitate the early delivery of ballots to the
receiving centers or central counting places.
2. Requires the SOS to adopt regulations for the secure
delivery and transfer of the ballots to the receiving center
or central counting place.
3. Only applies to a county with a geographic area of at least
2500 square miles.
BACKGROUND
There are 22 counties in California that span 2500 square miles
or more. The counties of San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Riverside,
Siskiyou and Fresno are well over 5000 square miles.
Traditionally, after the polls close on Election Day, ballots
are returned to the Registrar of Voters office for processing
and counting.
These larger counties may encounter late reconciliation issues
partly due to the size of the county that requires elections
staff to be on the road driving to remote polling places to pick
up ballot containers and then delivering them back to a central
processing location.
COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : Larger and more rural counties
face numerous challenges in making government work more
efficiently. One of the challenges is the timely counting of
ballots on Election Day.
SB 417 would allow a county with a geographic area of 2500
square miles or more to remove the ballots already cast at
midday and safely transport them to the central counting
place to begin the reconciliation process. No ballots
counted could be reported until the polls close on Election
Night. The bill would also require the Secretary of State to
develop the process and regulation for transporting the
ballots.
SB 417 (Stone) Page 3
of ?
2. Multiple ballot reconciliations . The SOS regulations
required by this bill would have to include, among other
things, a process whereby precinct boards must conduct a
reconciliation of the ballots consistent with the process
currently required after the closing of the polls. As stated
above, existing law requires the members of the precinct
board to conduct a reconciliation ensuring that all ballots
delivered to them are accounted for whether voted, unused,
spoiled, or canceled. Absent proper reconciliation, the
ability to identify and correct any error will be lost.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 363 (Steinorth) of this session, will among other things
authorize the county elections official to direct other
elections officials to remove the sealed ballots prior to the
closing of the polls and to deliver them to a receiving center
or central counting place. AB 363 is awaiting hearing in the
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.
SB 1346 (Negrete-McLeod) of 2012, was similar to this bill, but
died before being heard in this Committee.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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