BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
787 (Hill)
Hearing Date: 8/17/2009 Amended: 6/1/2009
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz Policy Vote: ER&CA 5-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 787 requires local county elections officials
to notify voters when excess postage is necessary to mail a
ballot.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Notification costs -----potentially $100 per
statewide election----- General*
*Reimbursable state-mandated local program
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense file.
Counties will most likely provide the postage requirement
through an insert accompanying the vote by mail ballot
materials. Approximately 5.7 million vote by mail ballots were
sent out for the February 2008 primary election. If insert
costs were $0.065 per ballot, total reimbursable annual costs
would be as high as $370,500. However, it is likely that not
all counties would experience ballots that necessitate extra
postage at the same time, therefore, reimbursable costs would
probably be closer to $100,000 per statewide election.
AB 787 provides that when elections officials determine that
more than one first-class stamp is required to return a vote by
mail ballot, notification will be provided to the voter of how
many first-class stamps or the equivalent postage is required.
The bill provides that the elections official shall use the most
cost-effective means available to notify the voter of the need
for additional postage.
In responding to a similar bill last year (AB 984, Price, which
was held on this committee's Suspense File last year) the County
Association of Clerks and Elections Officials (CACEO) indicated
that printing the required postage on the identification
envelope is not a viable option since the envelopes are printed
in bulk for cost savings purposes, and the final size of the
ballot is not determined until after the printing deadline for
the envelopes. Therefore, a separate insert will likely be
used.
In the 2006 Gubernatorial General election, 25 counties required
more than one stamp to return an absentee ballot. Some counties
have individually worked with the USPS to ensure that any vote
by mail ballot with at least one stamp be delivered and the
county reimburses the USPS for the shortfall in postage. To the
extent that voters place sufficient postage on each ballot in
future elections, counties would incur savings from no longer
reimbursing the USPS for shortfalls.