BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           101 (Anderson)
          
          Hearing Date:  6/29/2009        Amended: As Introduced
          Consultant:  Maureen Ortiz      Policy Vote: ER&CA 5-0
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   

          AB 101 requires county elections officials to inform vote by  
          mail (VBM) voters that their ballot must be actually received by  
          elections officials before the polls close on elections day in  
          order to be counted.  The bill allows the notice to be either on  
          the identification envelope or in the ballot materials.

          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
                                                                  
          Notice to voters                      ----likely less than $100  
          per election--------        General*

          *Reimbursable state local mandate
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS:  This bill meets the criteria for referral to  
          the Suspense file.

          Since this bill allows the counties to either print the notice  
          on the identification envelope or enclose an insert with the  
          ballot materials, most counties will probably use an insert  
          until the current supply of envelopes is exhausted.  At that  
          time, the notice could be printed on the identification envelope  
          and future costs would be negligible.

          Over 9 million Californians cast their votes by mail during the  
          February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary Election.  As this trend  
          grows, it is important that voters understand that their ballot  
          must be actually received by the elections official before the  
          close of polls on elections day, and that a postmark of that day  
          is not sufficient.











          Prior to 1978, only voters who had certified medical excuses or  
          who would be out of town on the day of the election were allowed  
          to vote absentee.  Since 1978, every registered Californian has  
          been allowed to cast a ballot by mail.  In 2001, California  
          permitted any voter to register as a permanent vote-by-mail  
          voter.

          This bill is identical to AB 1928 (Anderson) which was vetoed by  
          the Governor last year due to the 2008-09 Budget Act delay.