BILL ANALYSIS
AB 84
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 84 (Hill, Adams, and Lieu)
As Introduced December 23, 2008
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
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|Ayes:|Fong, Adams, Bill |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Berryhill, Coto, Mendoza, | |Calderon, Davis, Fuentes, |
| |Saldana, Swanson | |Hall, Harkey, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Miller, |
| | | |Audra Strickland |
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SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to establish procedures
that allows a vote by mail (VBM) voter to find out whether his
or her VBM was counted; and, if not, the reason why it was not
counted.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, given that similar notifications are already required
for provisional ballots and that VBM voters may already obtain
information regarding whether their ballot was received, any
additional reimbursable costs to comply with this bill's
provision should be minor.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Voting by mail has
increased significantly over the past few years as a convenient
method of voting. Safeguards built into the method of voting
included requiring elections officials to verify the signature
on a vote by mail ballot envelope with the signature on the
voter's registration card. In some cases, a voter's signature
may have changed over time from the signature on file as a
result of age or illness. During the signature verification
process, if the signature on the ballot envelope does not match
the signature on file, the elections official will not count the
ballot. AB 84 gives VBM voters the same rights afforded to
provisional voters to find out whether their ballot was counted,
AB 84
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by requiring local elections officials to inform voters whose
ballots are not counted the reason why, thus giving voters the
ability to take corrective action to ensure that VBM ballots
will be counted in future elections."
Under current law, there are a number of reasons why a VBM
ballot that was completed and returned to the elections
officials may not be counted. One of the most common reasons is
that many ballots are received by the elections office after
election day, and state law requires that VBM ballots be
received by the close of polls on election day in order to be
counted. A voter who was under the impression that his or her
ballot would be counted as long as the envelope was postmarked
by election day could repeatedly have his or her ballot not
counted if that voter regularly waited until election day to put
their VBM ballot in the mail.
The other primary reason why a VBM ballot might not be counted
is that the signature on the identification envelope does not
match the one on the original affidavit of registration.
Illness and age can be factors that contribute to a signature
changing over time. For example, many older voters do not
realize that the signature on file with the Registrar of Voters
no longer matches their current signature; and, as a result
their VBM ballot may not be counted. By requiring elections
officials to provide a way for VBM voters to verify if their
ballot has been counted and a reason if it was not counted,
voters whose ballots were unable to be counted can take
appropriate steps to ensure that their VBM ballots are counted
in the future.
This bill is substantially similar to AB 2964 (Levine) of 2008.
AB 2964 was vetoed by the Governor, though the Governor did not
express any policy objections to the bill. Instead, AB 2964 was
one of the 136 bills that received the same veto message. That
veto message is as follows, "The historic delay in passing the
2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills
sent to my desk at the end of the year's legislative session.
Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest
priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard
and I cannot sign it at this time."
Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
AB 84
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319-2094
FN: 0000392