BILL ANALYSIS
SB 812
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 812 (Correa)
As Amended April 23, 2007
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :22-13
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Price, Leno, Levine, |Ayes:|Leno, Caballero, Davis, |
| |Mendoza, Saldana | |DeSaulnier, Huffman, |
| | | |Karnette, Krekorian, |
| | | |Lieu, Ma, Nava, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Adams, Niello |Nays:|Walters, Emmerson, La |
| | | |Malfa, Nakanishi, Sharon |
| | | |Runner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes it an infraction to pay a person on a
per-registration basis to assist another person to register to
vote. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that any person who offers to pay or pays money or
other valuable consideration to another person, either
directly or indirectly, on a per-affidavit basis to assist
another person to register to vote by receiving the completed
affidavit of registration is guilty of an infraction,
punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
2)Provides that any person who receives money or other valuable
consideration, either directly or indirectly, on a
per-affidavit basis to assist another person to register to
vote by receiving the completed affidavit of registration is
guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not to exceed
$500.
3)Specifies that the prohibition on paying a person on a
per-affidavit basis for registering voters does not apply to
any state political party that reimburses its central
committees and clubs on a per-affidavit basis.
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4)Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall not be
construed to prohibit payment for assisting another person to
register to vote by receiving the completed affidavit if that
payment is not, either directly or indirectly, on a
per-affidavit basis.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential minor nonreimbursable costs to cities and
counties for enforcement, offset to some extent by fine
revenues.
COMMENTS : 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 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.)."
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. A payment made to an
individual that is based on the number of individuals who are
registered to vote is commonly called a "bounty," and this
practice is regularly employed in voter registration drives.
While such 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.
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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.
This bill prohibits the payment of individuals on a per-piece
basis for voter registration. Typically, in California, those
individuals who are paid to register voters on a per-piece basis
are independent contractors. However, to the extent that this
bill forces individuals who are paid to register voters to be
paid an hourly wage, this bill could also result in these
individuals being considered employees under California law. As
such, the individual, corporation, or group paying individuals
to register voters may be required to pay minimum wage, provide
workers compensation insurance and unemployment insurance for
its employees, and maintain a payroll system.
If individuals or groups paying people to register voters are
required to provide benefits such as unemployment insurance and
workers compensation insurance as a result of this bill, this
may result in higher costs to those groups that pay individuals
to register voters. In addition, prohibiting payment of
individuals on a per-registration basis could increase costs
because it may become more difficult to measure the work product
of employees who are being paid to register voters. Potential
increased costs may be partially offset if, by reducing the
incentive to submit fraudulent registrations, this legislation
results in individuals submitting fewer invalid registrations.
AB 2946 (Leno) of 2006 would have prohibited the payment of an
individual to register voters if that payment was on a
per-registration basis, among other provisions. AB 2946 was
vetoed by the Governor, though his veto message focused on other
parts of that bill, and did not address the provisions of the
bill that would have prohibited bounty payments for registering
voters.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0002127
SB 812
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