BILL ANALYSIS
AB 84
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 84 (Hill, Adams, and Lieu)
As Amended June 23, 2009
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(April 30, |SENATE: |26-13|(August 24, |
| | |2009) | | |2009) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(August 27, | | | |
| | |2009) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to establish procedures
that allows a vote by mail (VBM) voter to find out whether his
or her VBM ballot was counted, and, if not, the reason why it
was not counted.
The Senate amendments make a technical amendment which is
consistent with the Assembly actions.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially minor reimbursable costs.
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 (VBM) 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
AB 84
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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, 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. For instance, San Mateo
County implemented a process for VBM voters to confirm if their
ballot was received at the county elections office. VBM voters
can log into the San Mateo County Elections office website by
entering three unique identifiers and find out when the
elections office received their ballot. According to San Mateo
County, the cost of doing this was minimal since county
elections officials already log in VBM ballots into their
computerized elections management systems."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"This bill would require elections officials to establish a free
access system that allows a [VBM] voter to determine if his or
her ballot was counted.
"While I support the author's intent, I believe this will result
in additional costs to local governments. Some counties use an
existing system that tracks receipt of VBM ballots to provide
this information to voters. I would encourage other counties to
consider implementing the provisions of this bill if their
resources allow, but cannot support mandating them to do so."
Analysis Prepared by: Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
FN: 0003273