BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 450 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair SB 450 (Allen) - As Amended June 21, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Elections and Redistricting |Vote:|5 - 2 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 SB 450 Page 2 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 SB 450 Page 3 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. SB 450 Page 4 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 SB 450 Page 5 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. SB 450 Page 6 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. SB 450 Page 7 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 SB 450 Page 8 return his or her ballot to designate any person to return the ballot, as specified. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081