BILL ANALYSIS
AB 686
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 5, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 686 (Ruskin) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
SUBJECT : Voting: polling place procedures.
SUMMARY : Repeals a provision of law pertaining to now defunct
lever voting machines that limits a voter to five minutes in a
voting booth or compartment while marking his or her ballot and
adds a provision that allows a voter to inform precinct board
members when he or she needs more than 10 minutes to mark his or
her ballot.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits voting booths or compartments from being occupied by
more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible
to receive assistance in casting his or her ballot.
2)Prohibits voters from remaining in or occupying the booths or
compartments for longer than either five or 10 minutes unless
a longer time period will not inconvenience other voters.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
AB 686 addresses discrepancies in the Elections Code
relating to the length of time a voter can remain in a
voting booth.
Current law has two conflicting standards on this subject.
Elections Code section 14224 provides that a voter may not
remain in the voting booth longer than necessary to mark
his or her ballot, but the total amount of time shall not
exceed ten minutes. Elections Code section 19363 provides
a voter may not remain in the voting booth longer than
necessary to mark his or her ballot, but the total amount
of time shall not exceed five minutes.
AB 686 resolves this issue by repealing Elections Code
AB 686
Page 2
section 19363. Additionally, this measure permits voters to
remain for longer than ten minutes if the voter informs a
precinct board member that they require additional time to
mark their ballot.
2)Conflicting Code Sections : Existing law contains two
conflicting provisions that set a limit on the amount of time
that a voter can remain in a voting booth or compartment.
Elections Code Section 14224 sets a 10 minute limit on the
amount of time that a voter can remain in a voting booth or
compartment to cast his or her ballot, while Elections Code
Section 19363 sets a five minute limit. Elections Code
Section 19363 is located in a part of the code dealing with
lever voting machines - machines that are no longer used in
this state.
3)Previous Legislation : This bill is substantially similar to
AB 3014 (Mullin) of 2008, which was vetoed by the Governor,
though the Governor did not express any policy objections to
the bill. AB 3014 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.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Secretary of State Debra Bowen (sponsor)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Disability Rights California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094