BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 686 HEARING DATE: 7/7/09
AUTHOR: RUSKIN ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Voting: polling place procedures
DESCRIPTION
Existing law 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.
This bill 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.
This bill also repeals an obsolete section of the Elections
Code.
BACKGROUND
Reorganizing and Renumbering of the Elections Code . The
process of reorganizing and renumbering of the entire
Elections Code was undertaken in legislation introduced by
the Senate Elections and Reapportionment Committee, SB
1547, Chapter 920, Statutes of 1994. While most of the
redundant, conflicting or obsolete provisions were reviewed
and eventually removed, it is possible instances may have
been inadvertently missed.
COMMENTS
1. 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
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 read 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.
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PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-0
Assembly Floor: 65-6
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Secretary of State
Support: Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
(AACRE)
Disability Rights California
Oppose: None received
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