BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 450|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 450
Author: Allen (D) and Hertzberg (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/16
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 8/25/16 (Pursuant to
Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 47-31, 8/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Elections: vote by mail voting and mail ballot
elections
SOURCE: Secretary of State Alex Padilla
DIGEST: This bill permits 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, subject to
certain conditions.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete the prior version of this bill
and instead permit specified counties beginning in 2018, and all
other counties beginning in 2020, 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, subject to
certain conditions; and (2) permit Los Angeles County, beginning
in 2020 and for a period of not more than four years, to conduct
elections in which vote centers and ballot drop-off locations
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are available prior to and on election day, in lieu of operating
polling places for the election, subject to certain conditions.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Allows any voter to receive a vote by mail (VBM) ballot for an
election. Allows a voter who wishes to receive a VBM ballot
for every election in which that voter is eligible to vote to
become a permanent VBM voter.
2)Allows local elections held on no more than three different
dates in Monterey, Sacramento, San Mateo, and Yolo counties to
be conducted wholly by mail, as part of a pilot project
lasting through January 1, 2018, subject to certain
conditions.
3)Permits San Diego County, as part of a pilot program lasting
through January 1, 2021, to conduct a special election to fill
a vacancy in the Legislature or in Congress as an all-mailed
ballot election, subject to certain conditions and reporting
requirements.
This bill:
1)Permits the counties of 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
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 the
following conditions:
a) Vote Centers. Requires vote centers to be open, in lieu
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of polling places, on election day, and for the 10 days
prior to election day. Requires, for regularly scheduled
elections, one vote center for every 50,000 registered
voters from the 10th day to the 4th day prior to the
election, and one vote center for every 10,000 registered
voters from the 3rd day prior to the election through
election day, with no fewer than two vote centers.
Requires, for special elections, one vote center for every
60,000 registered voters from the 10th day to the day prior
to the election, and one vote center for every 30,000
registered voters on election day, as specified. Specifies
minimum hours of operation at vote centers. Requires that
a voter be able to return a VBM ballot, register to vote,
and vote at any vote center in the voter's county of
residence. Requires vote centers to be accessible to
voters with disabilities, and requires language assistance
to be provided at vote centers consistent with current
state and federal law.
b) VBM Ballots and Return. Requires all registered voters
to be mailed ballots and 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, as specified. Requires a
ballot drop-off location for every 15,000 registered
voters.
c) Election Administration. Requires county elections
officials to develop a plan for conducting elections, and
specifies the elements of the plan, including voter
education and outreach, and the public process for
developing the plan. Requires the Secretary of State (SOS)
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,
maintained by the county elections official that is
operational no later than 29 days before the day of the
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election until 5 p.m. on the day after the election.
Requires the hotline to provide assistance to voters in all
languages in which the county is required to provide voting
materials and assistance, as specified.
e) Requires the county elections official to establish a
Language Access Advisory Committee and a Voting
Accessibility Advisory Committee, as specified.
f) Permits a county to conduct a special election as an
all-mailed ballot election under this bill, as specified.
2)Los Angeles County Alternative. Permits Los Angeles County,
beginning January 1, 2020, to conduct elections subject to the
same conditions that are generally applicable above, with the
following exceptions:
a) The county is not required to mail a ballot to every
registered voter, but is required to mail ballots to
permanent VBM voters, voters in precincts with fewer than
500 registered voters, voters in jurisdictions that are
shared with counties that are conducting elections pursuant
to this bill, and voters in precincts that are either more
than a 30-minute travel time from a vote center, or where
the precinct's polling place from the last statewide
election is more than 15 miles from the nearest vote
center.
b) Requires, for regularly scheduled elections, one vote
center for every 30,000 registered voters from the 10th day
to the 4th day prior to the election, and one vote center
for every 7,500 registered voters from the 3rd day prior to
the election through election day. Additionally requires a
vote center to be located in every city within the county
that has at least 1,000 registered voters. Requires at
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least one drop-off location for every 15,000 permanent VBM
voters, with no fewer than two drop-off locations, as
specified.
c) Provides that the county may conduct elections under
this alternative for no more than four years, and allows
the county to conduct elections as otherwise provided in
this bill after that time.
3)Requires the SOS to report specified information to the
Legislature within six months of any election conducted
pursuant to this bill and establish a task force to review
these elections and to provide recommendations to the
Legislature.
4)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.
5)Contains double-jointing language to avoid chaptering problems
with AB 1921 (Gonzalez).
Background
Colorado Model of Elections. As noted in the author's statement
below, the provisions of this bill are modeled after the way
that Colorado conducts its elections. The essence of Colorado's
elections system is that voters may choose to vote at home using
a ballot that is mailed to them, or may visit any of the several
vote centers within their home county on election day, or on the
days leading up to election day, including weekends.
Technical Requirements for Vote Centers. Because voters have
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the option of casting a ballot at any vote center in the county,
vote centers need to have a system that can provide any eligible
voter in the county with the appropriate ballot. While smaller
counties that have fewer ballot styles may be able to
accommodate that need using pre-printed paper ballots, vote
centers in larger jurisdictions likely will feature electronic
voting systems that are pre-loaded with all the ballot types in
the county, or ballot-on-demand printers that can produce the
appropriate paper ballots as needed.
Additionally, in order to verify the registration of voters,
determine the correct ballot type for each voter, and ensure
that a voter has not already cast a ballot, vote centers must
have a mechanism to verify voter registration information. In
most jurisdictions, this requirement is likely to be met through
the use of electronic poll books that can communicate with the
voter registration database in real-time.
Comments
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
Los Angeles 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.
Since 1960 turnout of registered voters in California
off-year general elections has steadily decreased from a
high of 79 percent in 1966 to a previous low of 50.5
percent in 2002. Turnout for off-year primary elections
since 1960 has also steadily decreased from a high of
almost 69 percent in 1978 - when Proposition 13 appeared on
the ballot - to a previous low of 33 percent in 2010.
SB 450 is modeled on the very successful way Colorado
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conducts its elections wherein every voter automatically
receives a VBM 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. 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.
At the vote centers, voters can register to vote, cast a
vote, or get a new ballot if they lost or damaged their
mail ballot. They are also equipped with accessible voting
machines for disabled voters and electronic poll books that
interact with the official voter database.
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.
The language of SB 450 was painstakingly developed with the
input of the SOS, county elections officials, and numerous
advocates representing all facets of California's very
diverse electorate. This effort is evident in the
unprecedented lengths to which the bill goes toward
accommodating non-English proficient voters and voters with
accessibility needs as well as requiring extensive
community involvement and voter education.
A majority of our voters are already casting ballots by
mail. During the November, 2014 General Election over 60
percent of all voters statewide used a VBM ballot. Use of
mail ballots in local and special elections is even higher.
Furthermore, a recent poll conducted by the Public Policy
Institute of California found that 70 percent of California
adults favor sending every registered voter a VBM ballot.
SB 450 offers the best opportunity to significantly
increase voter participation while also saving
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participating counties money over the current system.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)The SOS will incur ongoing General Fund costs of about
$280,000 for three positions to review and approve county
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.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/25/16)
Secretary of State Alex Padilla (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California Association of Nonprofits
California Common Cause
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California League of Conservation Voters
California Nurses Association
California Public Interest Research Group
California State Association of Counties
California Transit Association
City Clerks Association of California
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Consumer Watchdog
Courage Campaign
Equality California
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
NARAL Pro-Choice California
Next Gen Climate Action
Rural County Representatives of California
San Fernando Valley Young Democrats
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Service Employees International Union
Sierra Club California
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/25/16)
Department of Finance
Election Integrity Project
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 47-31, 8/23/16
AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian,
O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,
Chávez, Dababneh, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Gatto, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen,
Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gray, Lopez
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
8/25/16 17:30:41
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