BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 686|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 686
Author: Ruskin (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM : 5-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Hancock, Walters, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 65-6, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Voting: polling place procedures
SOURCE : Secretary of State Debra Bowen
DIGEST : This bill 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.
ANALYSIS : 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 5 or 10
CONTINUED
AB 686
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2
minutes unless a longer time period will not
inconvenience other voters.
Prior 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 stated:
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/9/09)
Secretary of State Debra Bowen (source)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Disability Rights California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"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 CodeSection
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."
AB 686
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3
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Fuller, Harkey, Knight, Niello, Silva
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Eng,
Gaines, Price, Saldana, Villines
DLW:nl 7/9/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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