BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 439|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 439
Author: Allen (D)
Amended: 8/31/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/21/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/11/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 23-12, 5/18/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva,
Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Roth,
Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Cannella, Hall, Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-23, 9/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Election procedures
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill permits county elections officials to offer
conditional voter registration and provisional voting at
satellite offices during the entire 14 days immediately
preceding Election Day and establishes criteria for the
certification and use of ballot on demand printing systems and
electronic poll books.
SB 439
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Assembly Amendments add language to establish criteria for the
certification and use of electronic poll books.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides that a properly executed affidavit of voter
registration shall be deemed effective upon receipt by the
elections official if postmarked or received on or before the
15th day prior to an election to be held in the registrant's
precinct.
2)Provides for conditional voter registration whereby a
qualified person may register to vote after the 15th day prior
to an election or on Election Day, and cast a provisional
ballot which will be counted if the conditional voter
registration is deemed effective.
3)Requires county elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting at its permanent offices,
and permits them to offer this type of registration and voting
at satellite offices on Election Day.
4)Specifies that conditional voter registration, as described
above, becomes operative on January 1 of the year following
the year in which the Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that
the state has a statewide voter registration database that
complies with the requirements of the federal Help America
Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). It is anticipated that this
statewide voter database will become operative in 2016,
therefore conditional voter registration will commence in
2017.
5)Requires the SOS to adopt regulations governing the
manufacture, finishing, quality standards, distribution, and
inventory control of ballot cards and requires the biennial
inspection of the manufacturing, finishing, and storage
facilities involving ballot cards.
6)Requires the SOS to also approve each ballot card manufacturer
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or finisher before a manufacturer or finisher provides ballot
cards for use in California elections.
7)Requires each precinct board to keep a roster of voters who
have voted at the precinct, as specified.
8)Requires an elections official to furnish to the precinct
officers, among other things, printed copies of the index to
the affidavits of registration for that precinct.
This bill:
1)Permits county elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting at satellite offices after
the 15th day prior to an election through and including
Election Day.
2)Requires the SOS to adopt regulations for purposes of
certifying ballot on demand systems and requires the SOS to
approve each ballot on demand system before the system is
deployed for use in California elections.
3)Prohibits a jurisdiction from purchasing, leasing, or
contracting for, and a vendor, company, or person from
selling, leasing, or contracting with a jurisdiction for, a
ballot on demand system unless the ballot on demand system has
been certified by the SOS.
4)Defines "ballot on demand system" as a self-contained system
that allows users to do any of the following on an as-needed
basis:
a) Manufacture and finish card stock.
b) Finish unfinished ballot cards into ballot cards.
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5)Defines an "electronic poll book" to mean an electronic list
of registered voters that may be transported to the polling
location. Requires an electronic poll book to contain the
following information for each voter: name; address; precinct;
party preference; whether or not the voter has been issued a
vote by mail ballot; and, whether or not the vote by mail
ballot has been recorded as received by the elections
official.
6)Prohibits an electronic poll book from being used unless it
has been certified by the SOS.
7)Requires the SOS to adopt and publish electronic poll book
standards and regulations governing the certification and use
of electronic poll books. Prohibits the SOS from certifying
an electronic poll book unless it fulfills the requirements of
this bill and the SOS's standards and regulations.
Background
Pending Election Day registration in California. AB 1436
(Feuer, Chapter 497, Statutes of 2012) provided for Election Day
voter registration in California but it will not be implemented
until 2017, following the certification of VoteCal, the new
HAVA-compliant statewide voter database. While AB 1436 requires
county elections officials to offer voter registration and
concurrent voting by provisional ballot at the official's
permanent office during the 14 days following the normal close
of registration through Election Day it limits this convenience
to electors at satellite office locations to only Election Day
itself.
Ballot on demand systems. Ballot on demand printing 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.
While some counties are currently using ballot on demand
printing systems that have been approved by prior SOS, current
statutes require the approval process to be conducted on a
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county by county (and location by location) basis which is very
cumbersome and serves as a disincentive for counties to
participate. 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.
Electronic 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 have a variety of other functionalities. For
example, many electronic poll books 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.
Comments
1)According to the author:
SB 439 would allow a county elections official to offer voter
registration and voting at satellite offices during the entire
14 days immediately preceding Election Day and establish
criteria for the use of ballot on-demand (BOD) printing systems
and electronic poll books to facilitate this process as well as
other early voting efforts.
Legislation providing for Election Day voter registration in
California was approved in 2012 but will not be implemented in
until 2017. Under this pending system county elections
officials must offer voter registration and concurrent voting by
provisional ballot to any qualified elector at the official's
office during the 14 days following the normal close of
registration through Election Day. They may also offer this
convenience to electors at satellite office locations but can
only do so on Election Day itself.
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BOD printing 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. While some counties are currently using BOD
printing systems that have been approved by prior Secretaries of
State, current statutes require the approval process to be
conducted on a county by county (and location by location) basis
which is very cumbersome and serves as a disincentive for
counties to participate. For instance, if a single county wants
to use a BOD system, that county would have to seek separate
approval for each location where they anticipate usage.
Electronic poll books will ultimately permit early voting sites
and traditional polling places to be linked to state and/or
county voter databases which could be accessed for voting
integrity purposes and eventually reduce the need for expensive
and time consuming provisional balloting.
As a way of accommodating what should be an enormous number of
last-minute registrants, SB 439 will allow county elections
officials to offer voter registration and voting at satellite
offices during the entire 14 days immediately preceding Election
Day in addition to their main offices. In order to facilitate
this process more securely, cost-effectively and make the
experience quicker and more convenient for voters, SB 439 will
also establish clear statutory authority and criteria for the
use of BOD printing systems and electronic poll books.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 1436 (Feuer, Chapter 497, Statutes of 2012). See
"Background" above, for a description.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the SOS
would incur ongoing General Fund costs of about $90,000 for one
position related to promulgating the regulations and testing and
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certification of ballot on demand systems and electronic poll
books.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/3/15)
Secretary of State Alex Padilla
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California Common Cause
California Public Interest Research Group
California State Council of the Service Employees International
Union
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/3/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-23, 9/3/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Dahle,
Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson,
Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chang, Linder, Olsen
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
9/3/15 18:47:41
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