BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 450
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Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 450
(Allen) - As Amended June 21, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes counties to conduct elections in which
every voter is mailed a ballot and vote centers and ballot
drop-off locations are available prior to and on election day,
in lieu of operating polling places for the election.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes 14 counties (Calaveras, Inyo, Madera, Napa, Nevada,
Orange, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara,
Shasta, Sierra, Sutter, and Tuolumne), on or after January 1,
2018, and all other counties, on or after January 1, 2020, to
choose to conduct elections where all voters are mailed a
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ballot and where vote centers and ballot drop-off locations
are available prior to and on election day, in lieu of
operating polling places for the election, subject to
specified conditions, including the following:
a) Vote Centers. Requires vote centers to be open, in lieu
of polling places, on election day and for 10 days
preceding election day; specifies minimum hours of
operation; requires, for regular elections, one voter
center for every 50,000 registered voters from the 10th day
through the 4th day prior to the election, and then one
voter center for every 10,000 registered voters from the
3rd day prior to the election through election day;
requires equal distribution and accessibility of vote
centers; and requires language assistance consistent with
current law requirements by jurisdiction.
b) Ballot Drop-Off Locations. Requires ballot drop-off
locations, consisting of a secure, accessible, locked
ballot box to be available from the 28th day before the
election through election day; requires one drop-off for
every 15,000 registered voters.
c) Election Administration. Requires county elections
officials to develop a plan for conducting these elections,
and specifies the elements of the plan, including voter
education and outreach, and the public process for
developing the plan. The Secretary of State (SOS) will be
required to review and approve the voter education and
outreach portions of the plan.
d) Requires a toll-free voter assistance hotline,
accessible to voters who are deaf and hard of hearing, to
be maintained by the county elections official no later
than 29 days before the day of the election until 5 p.m. on
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the day after the election.
e) Requires the county elections official to establish a
Language Access Advisory Committee (LAAC), as specified.
2)Los Angeles County Option. Permits LA County, beginning
January 1, 2020, to conduct elections subject to the same
conditions generally applicable above, with the following
exceptions:
a) The county is only required to mail a ballot to all of
the following voters:
i) Permanent VBM voters;
ii) Precincts with fewer than 500 registered voters;
iii) Voters who reside in jurisdictions adjacent to
counties conducting elections pursuant to this bill; and,
iv) Voters in precincts either more than a 30-minute
travel time from a vote center, or where the precinct's
traditional polling place from the last statewide
election is more than 15 miles from the nearest vote
center.
b) Vote Centers. For regular elections, requires one voter
center for every 30,000 registered voters from the 10th day
through the 4th day prior to the election and then one
voter center for every 7,500 registered voters from the 3rd
day prior to the election through election day.
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c) Ballot Drop-Off Locations. For regular elections, at
least one drop-off location for every 15,000 VBM voters.
3)Requires the Secretary of SOS to:
a) Report to the Legislature specified data from counties
within six months of any election conducted pursuant to
this bill.
b) Establish a task force, as specified and until January
1, 2022, to review elections conducted pursuant to this
bill to provide comments and recommendations to the
Legislature within six months after each election.
c) Enforce the provisions of this bill.
4)Repeals limits on the individuals who a voter may designate to
return his or her VBM ballot, and instead permits a voter to
designate any person to return his or her VBM ballot.
5)Allows a VBM ballot to be returned to any polling place within
the state, instead of being limited to polling places within
the jurisdiction of the elections official who issued the
ballot.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)The SOS will incur ongoing General Fund costs of about
$280,000 for three positions to review and approve county
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voter education and outreach plans, provide technical support
for election equipment at vote centers, which will be
connected to the statewide voter registration database
(VoteCal), conduct demographic analysis of election data, and
staff the SOS task force.
2)Initial costs to participating counties will likely be
significant, but in many cases will result in long-term cost
savings. Since the bill is permissible, any county costs will
not be state reimbursable.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "California saw
historically low voter turnout in 2014. Only 25 percent
of all registered California voters cast a ballot in the
June primary and only 42 percent participated in the
November general election. Los Angeles County - the
largest voting jurisdiction in the country - had the
lowest turnout among all of California's 58 counties.
Fewer than 17 percent of L.A. County voters cast a ballot
in the June primary and only 31 percent voted in
November. While voter turnout was poor across the entire
country in 2014, California ranked an inexcusable 43rd in
turnout among the 50 states and District of Columbia.
"SB 450 [sponsored by the SOS] is modeled on the very
successful way Colorado conducts its elections wherein
every voter automatically receives a vote by mail ballot
who may then return that ballot by mail or in person at
numerous drop-off locations and innovative vote centers.
In lieu of traditional neighborhood polling places, these
vote centers are placed in convenient locations all over
town and open several days prior to each election.
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Furthermore, voters can use any vote center or drop-off
location in their home county - they are not limited to
using the one closest to their residence.
"Fully implemented for the 2014 elections, this hybrid
system resulted in Colorado achieving one of the highest
voter turnouts in the nation?SB 450 will replicate this
system in California on a county by county, opt-in basis
beginning in 2018?SB 450 offers the best opportunity to
significantly increase voter participation while also
saving participating counties money over the current
system."
2)Colorado Election Model. Colorado's election system came
about through a series of changes over time. Larimer
County in Colorado piloted the first use of vote centers
in 2003. By 2010, more than two-thirds of Colorado
counties conducted the statewide primary election as an
all-mail ballot election. In 2013, the Colorado
Legislature adopted and the Governor signed HB 1303,
which established the framework under which Colorado's
elections are now conducted.
While the provisions of this bill are modeled after
Colorado law, California's unique challenges will
necessitate policies that differ from the Colorado model
in some respects, particularly the requirement that many
California jurisdictions provide assistance to some
voters in languages other than English and Spanish.
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Other challenges that California likely will face in
moving to an election system similar to Colorado's
include the state's size (both in terms of population and
geography), and the fact that fewer voters and elections
officials have familiarity with vote centers and
elections in which all voters are mailed a ballot.
Overcoming these challenges may require more robust voter
education and outreach, and may require other adjustments
to the Colorado model. This bill contains many
adjustments to the Colorado model in an attempt to
address this state's unique challenges.
3)Los Angeles Option. While similar to the election model
offered to other counties under the bill, the "Los
Angeles option" generally requires a larger number of
vote centers than are otherwise required, but does not
require the county to mail a ballot to every registered
voter. This option is designed, in part, in recognition
of the fact that voters in Los Angeles County use VBM
ballots at much lower rates than in other counties in the
state. Furthermore, the county's large population would
create significant logistical challenges if the county
were required to begin mailing VBM ballots to millions of
additional registered voters in a short period of time.
This bill, however, would require the county to
transition to the election model that is applicable to
all other counties after four years of conducting
elections under the "Los Angeles option."
4)Related Legislation. AB 1921 (Gonzalez), pending in the
Senate Floor, permits a VBM voter to who is unable to
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return his or her ballot to designate any person to
return the ballot, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081