BILL ANALYSIS
AB 909
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 909 (Feuer) - As Amended: April 21, 2009
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires poll workers to notify each decline-to-state
(DTS) voter at a partisan primary election that they may request
the ballot of any of the political parties that have adopted a
party rule allowing DTS voters to vote in their party primaries
at that election. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a member of a precinct board, prior to furnishing a
ballot to a DTS voter at a partisan primary election, to
provide the written notification as described above.
2)Provides that, for the purposes of this bill, written
notification includes signs, placards, posters, and other
forms of written notice.
3)Requires the written notification to list each party that has
adopted a party rule allowing DTS voters to vote the ballot of
that political party at the primary election.
4)Requires the notice to be translated into every language for
which the elections official is required to provide translated
election materials for that precinct pursuant to state or
federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor reimbursable costs, probably less than $30,000 statewide,
to inform poll workers of the new responsibility and/or to post
relevant notices for DTS voters at polling sites.
COMMENTS
AB 909
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1)Background . In June 2000, the United States Supreme Court
ruled that California's Open Primary Act, enacted by
Proposition 198 in 1996, violates a political party's First
Amendment right of association. In response to this ruling,
SB 28 (Peace)/Chapter 898 of 2000 implemented a modified
closed primary election system that permits DTS voters to
participate in a political party's primary election if
authorized by that party's rules. Elections have been
conducted under this modified closed primary election system
since the March 2002 statewide primary election. In this
February's Presidential primary election, the American
Independent Party and the Democratic Party allowed DTS voters
to participate in their party's primary election, while at
this June's primary election, those two parties and the
Republican Party will allow DTS voters to participate.
Under SB 28, a DTS voter who appears at the polling place at a
partisan primary election is provided only with a nonpartisan
ballot unless the DTS voter requests a ballot of a political
party that has authorized DTS voters to participate in the
party's primary election. While some counties have instructed
their polling place workers to offer DTS voters the option of
voting a partisan ballot, nothing in state law requires this
proactive offer, and some counties have told poll workers that
they are not permitted to offer a partisan ballot to DTS
voters. In those counties, DTS voters who don't know that they
are required to specifically request a partisan ballot at the
primary election may end up voting only a nonpartisan ballot.
2)Purpose . This bill requires poll workers to offer partisan
ballots to DTS voters at the polling place, and thus will
likely result in a larger number of DTS voters casting
partisan ballots in primary elections. There are currently
about 3.4 million Californians registered as DTS, representing
20% of all registered voters.
3)Prior Legislation . Last year, AB 2953 (Feuer), which was
substantially similar to this bill, was one of numerous bills
summarily vetoed by the governor without a stated reason.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081