BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 589|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 589
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 4/6/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/21/15
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/28/15
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Moorlach
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Voting: voter registration: individuals with
disabilities and conservatees
SOURCE: American Civil Liberties Union
DIGEST: This bill authorizes an individual with a disability
who is otherwise qualified to vote to complete an affidavit of
registration with reasonable accommodations as needed and
requires that a person be presumed mentally competent to vote,
regardless of his or her conservatorship status, if the court
finds that the person can communicate, with or without
reasonable accommodations, a desire to participate in the voting
process.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Permits prospective voters to receive assistance from another
person when completing an affidavit of registration. If any
person assists the affiant in completing the affidavit, that
person must sign and date the affidavit below the signature of
the affiant.
2)Requires an affiant to certify the content of the affidavit of
voter registration as to its truth and correctness, under
penalty of perjury, with a signature and the date of signing.
If the affiant is unable to write, he or she may instead sign
with a mark or cross or use a signature stamp, as specified.
3)Provides, pursuant to the federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C.
1973aa), that no citizen shall be denied, because of his
failure to comply with any test or device, the right to vote
in any federal, state, or local election conducted in any
state or political subdivision of a state. The term "test or
device" includes, among other things, any requirement that a
person demonstrate the ability to read, write, understand, or
interpret any matter.
4)Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that the
Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect
elections and shall provide for the disqualification of
electors while mentally incompetent or imprisoned or on parole
for the conviction of a felony.
5)Regulates the terms and conditions of conservatorships and
creates various requirements for a court and a court
investigator with regard to informing a proposed conservatee
that he or she may be disqualified from voting if he or she is
not capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration.
If a court finds that a person is not capable of completing an
affidavit of voter registration, as specified, existing law
provides that the person shall be deemed mentally incompetent
and disqualified from voting.
6)Prohibits a person, including a conservatee, from being
disqualified from voting on the basis that the person signs
the affidavit of voter registration with a mark or a cross,
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signs the affidavit of voter registration with a signature
stamp, or completes the affidavit of voter registration with
the assistance of another person.
7)Provides that in certain conservatorship proceedings heard by
a jury, requires the jury to unanimously find that the person
is incapable of completing an affidavit of registration before
the person is disqualified from voting.
8)If an order establishing a conservatorship is made and in
connection with the order it is found that the person is
incapable of completing an affidavit of voter registration,
existing law requires the court to forward the order and
determination to the county elections official of the person's
county of residence.
9)Provides that during the yearly or biennial review of certain
conservatorships, the court investigator must review the
person's capability of completing an affidavit of voter
registration and, if the conservatee's capability of
completing the affidavit of voter registration changes,
requires the court investigator to inform the court and the
court to hold a hearing regarding that capability.
This bill:
1)Authorizes an individual with a disability who is otherwise
qualified to vote to complete an affidavit of registration
with reasonable accommodations as needed.
2)Authorizes an individual with a disability who is under a
conservatorship to be registered to vote if he or she has not
been disqualified from voting.
3)Finds and declares that by explicitly adding the concept of
reasonable accommodation to state laws on voter qualification,
this bill brings the state into compliance with federal
standards.
4)Requires that a person be presumed competent to vote,
regardless of his or her conservatorship status but requires
that a person be deemed mentally incompetent, and therefore
disqualified from voting if, during certain proceedings
including conservatorship proceedings, the court finds by
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clear and convincing evidence that the person cannot
communicate, with or without reasonable accommodations, a
desire to participate in the voting process.
5)Provides that in certain conservatorship proceedings heard by
a jury, the jury must unanimously find by clear and
convincing evidence that the person cannot communicate, with
or without reasonable accommodations, a desire to participate
in the voting process before the person is disqualified from
voting.
6)Requires the court investigator, during the yearly or biennial
review of certain conservatorships, to review the person's
capability of communicating, with or without reasonable
accommodations, a desire to participate in the voting process,
and if the conservatee's capability of communicating that
desire has changed, requires the court investigator to inform
the court and the court to hold a hearing regarding that
capability.
7)Requires the court clerk's citation to the proposed
conservatee to include a statement describing the
aforementioned provisions.
Background
Voting rights of conservatees. In California, if an adult is
unable to manage his or her medical and personal decisions, a
conservator of the person may be appointed. While a conservator
of the person has charge of the care, custody and control of the
conservatee, that power is not absolute. According to a form
adopted by the Judicial Council entitled Notice of Conservatee's
Rights, when a person becomes a conservatee, he or she does not
necessarily lose the right to take part in important decisions
affecting his or her property and way of life. After
appointment of a conservator, the conservatee keeps specified
rights including the right to vote unless the court has limited
or taken that right away.
Last year the Disability and Abuse Project of Spectrum Institute
filed a formal complaint with the United States Department of
Justice's Civil Rights Division against the Los Angeles Superior
Court regarding their application of existing state law deeming
conservatees ineligible to register to vote if they are not
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capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration. The
complaint asserted that this practice constitutes a violation of
the federal Voting Rights Act's prohibition on use of a test or
device as a prerequisite for voter registration.
That complaint was the impetus for AB 1311 (Bradford, Chapter
591, Statutes of 2014), which prohibited a person, including a
conservatee, from being disqualified from voting on the basis
that he or she signs the affidavit of voter registration with
mark or a cross, signs the affidavit of voter registration with
a signature stamp, or completes the affidavit of registration
with the assistance of another person.
Comments
1) According to the author: Under current law, adults with
developmental disabilities under conservatorships are
routinely being disenfranchised at extremely high levels. A
review of 61 conservatorship cases involving adults with
developmental disabilities in Los Angeles County found that
close to 90% of conservatees in those cases had been
disqualified from voting due to their actual or perceived
inability to complete the voter registration affidavit.
Furthermore, this review found that probate attorneys are
being trained to disqualify adults under conservatorships from
voting when he/she are not able to sign a registration
affidavit.
SB 589 will allow disabled individuals under conservatorship to
retain their right to vote unless it is shown by clear and
convincing evidence that the individual cannot communicate,
with or without reasonable accommodations, a desire to
participate in the voting process. This is the standard
recommended by the American Bar Association and adopted in
Nevada and Maryland. This crucial shift will improve the
protections of these adults to maintain their voting rights in
California.
Under federal disability nondiscrimination laws people with
disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations as
needed to participate in public activities such as voting.
While a recent law listed some types of accommodations
available to adults under conservatorships to complete a voter
registration form, SB 589 would conform California law to
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federal law by stating that people with disabilities are
entitled to reasonable accommodations. This change will help
protect the voting rights of adults with developmental
disabilities who often fall through the cracks in our
democracy.
Protecting the rights of adults with developmental disabilities
is critical in maintaining and encouraging an inclusive and
diverse electorate. If an adult under conservatorship can
convey their desire to engage in the elections system, we
should do everything in our power to ensure that they keep
their voting rights. SB 589 will be a significant step
forward in ensuring that adults under conservatorships don't
slip through the cracks in our democracy.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified5/7/15)
American Civil Liberties Union (source)
AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Association of Regional Center Agencies
Autistic Self Advocacy Network of Los Angeles
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
Cal-TASH
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights California
Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters
Spectrum Institute
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/7/15)
None received
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
5/15/15 14:05:02
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