BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1096
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1096 (Galgiani) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Elections: precinct maps.
SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to provide electronic
copies of precinct maps to any interested person. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires election officials to provide all current precinct
boundaries and precinct consolidations to any interested
person.
2)Requires that precinct maps and boundary changes and
consolidations be made available in both print and electronic
forms.
3)Requires county elections officials to file copies of all
precinct maps following each primary election with the
Secretary of State (SOS) and requires the SOS to make them
accessible to any person upon request.
4)Authorizes the SOS to charge a person requesting information
the amount necessary to reimburse the state for actual
expenses incurred in providing copies of precinct information
to interested persons.
5)Requires elections officials to prepare detail maps of
precinct boundaries instead of giving elections officials the
choice to prepare either maps or exterior descriptions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires elections officials to prepare either detail maps or
exterior descriptions of precincts.
2)Requires the county elections official to file updated copies
of all precinct information with the SOS following each
general election.
3)Allows the elections official to charge a person requesting
information about precinct boundaries the amount needed to
AB 1096
Page 2
reimburse the jurisdiction for the actual expenses incurred in
providing copies of precinct information.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
In the last ten years, county election officials have
shifted to using electronic methods (Geographic Information
Systems- GIS) to create and update precinct boundaries. At
the same time, political campaigns and data vendors have
shifted to using these same electronic methods to produce
their own precinct maps. However, many counties refused to
provide copies of their precinct boundaries to the public
in an electronic format. Other counties charge prohibitive
prices in excess of the actual costs to the jurisdiction.
This means that campaigns, vendors and other interested
members of the public often have to manually recreate data
that already exists and was created at public expense.
AB 1096 updates California's Election Code relating to
public access to precinct boundary information. AB 1096
requires election officials to make available to the public
information on all precinct boundaries, not just modified
boundaries. It also requires this information include maps
and be available in both print and electronic formats. AB
1096 requires information on precinct boundaries be
provided to the Secretary of State after every regularly
scheduled statewide election, not just every general
election.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
AB 1096
Page 3
319-2094