BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 439
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 439
(Allen) - As Amended June 11, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes conditional voter registration at satellite
offices prior to election day and establishes processes and
procedures for the review and approval of ballot on demand
systems and electronic poll books, as defined, for use in
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California elections. Specifically, this bill:
1)Permits a county elections official to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting at satellite offices on
days prior to election day, rather than solely on election
day.
2)Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to adopt regulations
governing the manufacture, finishing, quality standards,
distribution, inventory control and certification of ballot on
demand systems, and requires the SOS to approve each ballot on
demand system before deploying the system for use in
California elections.
3)Requires the SOS to adopt and publish electronic poll book
standards and regulations governing the certification and use
of electronic poll books.
4)Prohibits a jurisdiction from purchasing, leasing, or
contracting for a ballot on demand system and from using an
electronic poll book unless certified by the SOS.
FISCAL EFFECT:
The SOS would incur ongoing General Fund costs of about $90,000
for one position related to promulgating the regulations and
testing and certification of ballot on demand systems and
electronic poll books.
COMMENTS:
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1)Conditional Registration. AB 1436 (Feuer), Chapter 497,
Statutes of 2012, established conditional voter registration,
also known as "same-day" registration, in California.
Specifically, current law authorizes a person who is otherwise
qualified to register to vote to complete a conditional voter
registration and cast a provisional ballot at the elections
official's permanent office during the 14 days immediately
preceding an election or on election day. In addition,
current law permits conditional voter registration at an
elections official's satellite office on election day only.
This bill instead authorizes a county elections official to
offer conditional voter registration and provisional voting at
satellites offices on other days instead of only on election
day.
2)Ballot on Demand System. A ballot on demand system is a device
that can print ballots on demand for use in elections. In
practice, ballot on demand systems are used in elections
official's offices and other locations in order to provide any
voter with his or her proper ballot regardless of the precinct
to which the voter is assigned.
Current law requires a ballot on demand system to be approved
using the same approval process that is in place for
commercial ballot printing operations. Consequently, a ballot
on demand system's approval process must be conducted on a
county by county (and location by location) basis. For
instance, if a single county wants to use a ballot on demand
system, that county would have to seek separate approval for
each location where they anticipate usage. According to the
author, this is very cumbersome and may serve as a
disincentive for counties to participate. According to the
SOS's website, 18 ballot on demand systems have been approved
for use in 13 counties.
This bill creates a new certification and approval process
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specifically for ballot on demand systems. The bill requires
the SOS to adopt regulations governing and certifying a ballot
on demand system for use in California elections, as
specified, and would allow jurisdictions to purchase and
deploy these systems upon certification.
3)Poll Books. An electronic poll book is an electronic version
of the traditional paper poll book which contains a list of
the registered voters in each precinct or district. An
electronic poll book typically looks like a tablet or laptop
computer and is used to more quickly and accurately check-in a
voter at his or her precinct or voting sites. Many electronic
poll books also have the capability to allow a poll worker to
look up voters from the entire county or state, connect to a
county or state voter registration database, notify a poll
worker if a voter has already voted, allow a voter to sign in
electronically, produce turnout numbers and lists of those who
have voted, and receive immediate updates on who has voted in
other voting jurisdictions. In California, however, electronic
poll books are in their infancy and simply serve as an
electronic list of registered voters in the precinct or
district.
SB 439 creates a new election-related policy that permits a
county elections official to use new technology to assist in
checking in voters at polling places and other voting sites,
and sets up processes and procedures for the review and
approval of electronic poll books for use in California
elections. In order to ensure this technology is secure and
promotes the integrity of the election, this bill requires the
SOS to adopt and publish electronic poll book standards and
regulations governing the certification and use of electronic
poll books and prohibits an electronic poll book from being
used unless it has been certified by the SOS.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
SB 439
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319-2081