BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 812
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 18, 2007

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mark Leno, Chair

                    SB 812 (Correa) - As Amended:  April 23, 2007 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:5-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Makes it an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $500,  
            for any person to offer to pay or to receive payment on a  
            per-registration basis for assisting another person to  
            register to vote by receiving their completed affidavit of  
            registration.

          2)Specifies that the above prohibition does not apply to any  
            state political party for reimbursing its central committees  
            and clubs on a per-affidavit basis.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential minor nonreimbursable costs to cities and counties for  
          enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author:

            "Currently, some partisan groups and campaigns have adopted a  
            business model that pays a direct commission or "bounty" to  
            individuals to register voters with their party.   
            Unfortunately, this method of payment per-affidavit encourages  
            rampant fraud and forgery, including tampering with party  
            affiliation, registration of non-existent persons,  
            registration of non-citizens, and countless other violations  
            of election code.

            "This bill would remedy much of those problems by banning the  








                                                                  SB 812
                                                                  Page  2

            per-affidavit payment for soliciting voter registrations.   
            Anyone paid to solicit voter's registrations would have to be  
            paid in some other manner than commission, (hourly wage,  
            salary, stipend, etc.)."

           2)Orange County Voter Registration  :  In March 2006, the Orange  
            County Register and the Los Angeles Times reported that Orange  
            County elections officials received several complaints about a  
            voter registration campaign for the Republican Party of Orange  
            County from voters who were re-registered with the Republican  
            Party without their permission. According to press reports,  
            the company in charge of the registration drive was paying  
            workers as much as $10 for every completed voter registration  
            card. While such "bounty" programs create incentives to  
            register people, they also create financial incentives for the  
            individuals who are registering voters to commit fraud.

          As of May 2006, Orange County elections officials reported  
            receiving about 450 complaints of illegal voter registrations.  
            Similar complaints were made about voter registration  
            campaigns in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

          In January 2007, two of the 12 individuals involved in the  
            Orange County scandal admitted their roles and were sentenced  
            to three years formal probation and time already served. The  
            remaining 10 individuals charged in the case are awaiting  
            court appearances.

          3)Related Legislation  :  AB 452 (Arambula), pending with the  
            governor, changes the current voter notification card to also  
            notify voters of any change in their personal party  
            affiliation upon re-registration, and requires that there be  
            specific procedures to address complaints related to voter  
            registration.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081