BILL ANALYSIS
AB 308
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 31, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 308 (Cook) - As Introduced: February 17, 2009
SUBJECT : Special absentee voters.
SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to send a special runoff
ballot, on which a voter may rank all the candidates, to every
overseas voter for any election for which there may be a runoff
election held within 90 days of that election. Requires the
elections official to tally a vote for the highest ranked
candidate on a special runoff ballot if the overseas voter that
cast the special runoff ballot does not return a regular ballot
for the runoff election. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the elections official to send a "special runoff
ballot" to every special absentee voter, as defined, who is
temporarily living outside the United States, at every
election for which there may be a runoff election held within
90 days of that election.
2)Requires the special runoff ballot to be sent to the voter in
addition to the regular runoff ballot.
3)Requires the special runoff ballot to contain a list of all
offices (and a list of the candidates for those offices) being
contested for which there may be a runoff election held within
90 days of that election.
4)Allows the special absentee voter to indicate his or her order
of preference for each candidate for each office on the
special runoff ballot.
5)Requires the special runoff ballot to be received by the
elections official by the close of polls on the day of the
runoff election in order to be eligible to be counted.
6)Provides that, in the event of a runoff election, the
elections official shall tabulate each special runoff ballot
as a vote for the candidate in the runoff election who is
ranked highest on the ballot.
7)Requires the elections official to tabulate the regular ballot
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instead of the special runoff ballot from a voter if the voter
sent both ballots back and both were received before the close
of polls on election day.
8)Requires instructions to be sent with the special runoff
ballot to explain the runoff voting process.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "special absentee voter" as an elector who is any of
the following:
a) A member of the armed forces of the United States or any
auxiliary branch thereof;
b) A citizen of the United States temporarily living
outside the territorial limits of the United States or the
District of Columbia;
c) Serving on a merchant vessel documented under the laws
of the United States; or,
d) A spouse or dependent of a member of the armed forces or
any auxiliary branch thereof.
2)Provides that an application for a vote by mail (VBM) ballot
by a special absentee voter or by an overseas voter shall be
deemed an affidavit of registration and an application for
permanent VBM voter status. Provides that such an application
shall be accepted only if it contains the voter's name,
residence address for voting purposes, the address to which
the ballot is to be sent, the voter's political party for a
primary election and the voter's signature.
3)Requires the county elections official to mail a ballot to all
special absentee voters and overseas voters who are permanent
VBM voters as soon as possible on or after the 60th day prior
to an election.
4)Permits a special absentee voter to register to vote and apply
for a ballot by facsimile transmission. Allows an elections
official to send a ballot by mail, facsimile, or electronic
transmission to a special absentee voter.
5)Allows a special absentee voter who is temporarily living
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outside of the United States to return his or her ballot by
facsimile transmission.
6)Allows a special absentee voter who is unable to appear at his
or her polling place because of being recalled to service
after the final day for applying for a VBM ballot to appear
before the elections official in the county in which the voter
is registered to apply for a VBM ballot.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Voters living overseas face several obstacles in exercising
their right to vote. These include slow communications and
mail delivery as well as unfamiliar and confusing
procedures for applying for absentee ballots, receiving
their ballots, and returning them. There is also a threat
to voter privacy and election integrity posed by some of
the proposals to use fax and email to facilitate these
burdens. Active military personnel in combat roles are in
the most difficult situation of all, since they are very
mobile and in locations where traditional postal mail is
understandably erratic.
The use of a ranked ballot insures that the tight deadlines
imposed by the two-round runoff election format will not
leave out overseas voters, including those in the armed
forces. It has already been used successfully in Louisiana
and Arkansas and was recently adopted in South Carolina as
well. The number of elections in California that would be
affected is relatively small, however, every voter's right
to vote is sacrosanct, and every election is important.
2)Facilitating Voting by Overseas Voters : Over the last six
years, the Legislature has made a number of changes to state
law to facilitate voting by military voters and other
California residents who are outside of the United States. AB
188 (Maze), Chapter 347, Statutes of 2003, streamlined a
number of provisions of state law to make it easier for
overseas voters to receive their ballots and cast a vote.
Among other provisions, AB 188 did the following:
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Specified that an application for a VBM ballot by an
overseas voter was deemed to be a request for voter
registration (if the voter was not already registered to
vote) and an application for permanent VBM voter status.
While California law previously allowed an application for
a VBM ballot made by federal post card application to serve
as an affidavit for registration, such an application would
register the voter for that election only. AB 188 allowed
any VBM ballot request received from an overseas voter to
be considered a request for voter registration, and the
voter's registration was permanent.
Made all overseas voters permanent VBM voters, thereby
eliminating the need for overseas military voters and other
overseas voters to request a VBM ballot for each separate
election.
Required that all overseas voters be mailed a VBM ballot
60 days before the election, to ensure that the voter has
sufficient time to receive, complete, and return his or her
ballot. Also repealed a requirement that these overseas
voters make certain written declarations in order to be
eligible to receive their VBM ballot 60 days before the
election.
Allowed the elections official to send an overseas voter
his or her ballot by electronic transmission.
In 2004, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB
2941 (Bates), Chapter 821, Statutes of 2004, which permits
special absentee voters who are temporarily living outside the
United States to return their ballots by facsimile
transmission. AB 2941 was modeled after the procedures
adopted by the Secretary of State (SOS) for the 2003 recall
election, when the SOS had first ordered ballots returned from
overseas voters by fax to be counted. AB 2941 was intended to
accommodate voters who, due to potential delays in
international mail delivery and structural barriers present in
combat areas, may not be able to receive, vote, and return a
ballot in the 60-day period provided for overseas voters.
Last year, the Legislature approved and the Governor signed AB
2786 (Salas), Chapter 252, Statutes of 2008, which extended
the sunset date on the provisions of AB 2941.
AB 308
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In addition to these procedures, California law allows
overseas voters to register to vote and apply for ballots by
facsimile and allows the elections official to transmit a
ballot to an overseas voter by facsimile or other electronic
transmission.
1)Voter Confusion : Under the provisions of this bill, overseas
voters will receive two similar ballots at the same time for
certain elections. One ballot will be for the first round of
the election, while the second ballot will be the "special
runoff ballot" that is being provided in the event that (1)
there is a runoff election, and (2) the voter does not have
enough time to complete and return the regular ballot for that
runoff election. Depending on the races and/or measures that
are on the ballot at the initial election, the two ballots may
contain all the same races and candidates, or the first ballot
may contain races and/or measures that do not appear on the
special runoff ballot. On the first ballot, the voter will
vote for his or her preferred candidate - just as he or she
would in any other election - while on the special runoff
ballot, the voter would rank the candidates in order of
preference. Additionally, to the extent that there is a
runoff, the same voter will receive a regular ballot for that
runoff election at which he or she will vote for his or her
preferred candidate, rather than ranking the candidates in
order of preference.
As a result, if this bill becomes law, at certain elections,
overseas voters will receive three different ballots for two
elections, even though ultimately, only two of those ballots
(at most) will be counted. Additionally, the ballots will use
two different voting methods - two of the ballots will ask the
voter to choose his or her preferred candidate, while the
third ballot will instruct the voter to rank candidates in
order of preference. Given these circumstances, it is likely
that there will be at least some voter confusion as to which
election each ballot is for, when to return each ballot, how
to vote on each ballot, and whether to vote in the same race
three times on three different ballots for just two elections
(an election and a runoff election).
2)Other States : The committee is aware of three states that
currently require that overseas voters be sent a runoff ballot
for use in a runoff election if one is necessary. Those three
states are Arkansas, Louisiana, and South Carolina. In those
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states, the "runoff ballot" was implemented largely out of
necessity due to the close proximity of state runoff elections
to the first round election. In Louisiana, a runoff election
is held just one month after the statewide general election.
In Arkansas, a runoff election is held just three weeks after
the statewide primary election. And in South Carolina, a
runoff election is held just two weeks after the statewide
primary election. The proximity of these runoff elections to
the initial round of voting makes it next to impossible for
overseas voters to receive and return a ballot for the runoff
election.
In California, however, runoff elections are not typically held
in such close proximity to first round elections. In special
elections held to fill vacancies in the Legislature or
Congress, the runoff election (if necessary) is held 8 or 9
weeks after the first round. As such, it's unclear whether
the situation that prompted Arkansas, Louisiana, and South
Carolina to adopt the procedure to send runoff ballots to
overseas voters exists in California.
3)Previous Legislation : AB 1662 (Cook) of 2007 was
substantially similar to this bill. AB 1662 was held on the
Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Legion, Department of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094