BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 417 (Stone) - Elections: election day procedures
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|Version: April 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 4 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 28, 2015 |Consultant: Maureen Ortiz |
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SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill
Summary: SB 417 authorizes a precinct board of a county with a
geographic area of at least 2,500 square miles to remove the
ballot containers from the polling place while the polls remain
open. The Secretary of State (SOS) will be required to adopt
regulations to ensure the safe delivery and transfer of the
ballots.
Fiscal
Impact:
Approximately $55,000 administrative costs to the Secretary of
State (General Fund)
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Participating counties will incur some non-reimbursable costs
for making multiple trips to pick up ballot containers, but
these costs will be offset by reduced overtime expenses after
the close of polls.
Background:1. Existing law requires the precinct board, before receiving
any ballot, to open and exhibit and close the ballot containers
in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place.
Existing law 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.
Proposed Law:
Specifically, SB 417 does the following:
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
2,500 square miles.
Related
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 pending a hearing
in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.
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Staff
Comments: There are 22 counties in California that span 2,500 square
miles or more. The counties of San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern,
Riverside, Siskiyou and Fresno are well over 5,000 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 currently 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.
SB 417 will allow a county with a geographic area of 2,500
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 will be
allowed to be reported until the polls close on Election Night.
The bill requires the Secretary of State to develop regulations
outlining the process for securely transporting the ballots.
The SOS regulations required by this bill will 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.
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.
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