BILL NUMBER: AB 467	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Coto

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Sections 3005 and 12281 of the Elections Code,
relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 467, as introduced, Coto. Elections: voting.
   Under existing law, if there are 250 or fewer persons registered
to vote in a precinct on the 88th day before the election, an
elections official may furnish to each voter in the precinct a vote
by mail ballot, along with a statement that there will be no polling
place for the election.
   This bill would specify that an elections official sending a vote
by mail ballot and a statement that there will be no polling place
for the election to a voter must also include with those materials a
statement explaining why there will be no polling place for the
election and instructions on timely submitting a vote by mail ballot.

   Under existing law, if for a valid reason, an elections official
changes the location of a polling place, the elections official may
mail a notice to each voter in the precinct if there is sufficient
time to receive it before the election. If the need to change the
polling place is not known in sufficient time to mail a notice,
existing law requires that the new polling place be within one mile
of the original polling place and that notice of the change be posted
on or near the original polling place.
   This bill would instead provide that an elections official
changing the location of the polling place must mail notice of the
change to each voter in the precinct not less than 7 days prior to
the election. If a change in the polling place is not known in
sufficient time to permit a mailing, the bill would specify that the
new polling place be within the boundaries of the precinct.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3005 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   3005.  Whenever, on the 88th day before the election, there are
250 or less persons registered to vote in  any  
a  precinct, the elections official may furnish each voter with
a vote by mail ballot along with a statement that there will be no
polling place for the election  , a statement explaining why
there will be no polling place for the election, and instructions on
timely submitting a vote by mail ballot  . The elections
official shall also notify each voter of the location of the two
nearest polling places in the event the voter chooses to return the
ballot on election day. The voter shall not be required to file an
application for the vote by mail ballot and the ballot shall be sent
as soon as the ballots are  available. 
    No   available. A  precinct shall be
 not  divided in order to conform to this section.
  SEC. 2.  Section 12281 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
   12281.  (a) If, for any valid reason, the polling place designated
for  any   a  precinct cannot be used, and
this fact is known in sufficient time to allow  a mailed
 notice to be  received before   mailed
by the elections official not less than seven calendar days prior to
the date of  the election, the elections official may designate
another polling place and shall mail  ,  to each
voter in the precinct  , not less than seven calendar days prior
to the date of the election,  a notice showing this change.
   (b) If the information is not known in sufficient time for a
mailing pursuant to subdivision (a), either the elections official
or, in the case of an emergency, the precinct board on the day of
election, shall designate another polling place  as near the
place first designated as possible   within the
boundaries of the precinct in which the original polling place was
located  , post notice on or near the  original polling
 place  first designated  , and conduct the
election at the new location.