BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1096
Author: Galgiani (D)
Amended: 7/23/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM.: 5-0, 7/7/09
AYES: Hancock, Walters, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 6/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: precinct maps
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires elections officials to
provide electronic copies of precinct maps to any
interested person. Specifically, this bill requires (1)
election officials to provide all current precinct
boundaries, including the boundaries of any subprecincts,
if available, and precinct consolidations to any interested
person, and (2) that precinct maps and boundary changes and
consolidations be made available in both print and
electronic forms.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires elections officials to
prepare either maps or exterior descriptions of precincts
each calendar year and to make that information accessible
to members of the public upon request. Local elections
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officials may charge a person requesting copies of the
information the cost necessary to reimburse the
jurisdiction for its expenses in providing the copies.
This bill updates California's Election Code relating to
public access to precinct boundary information. This bill
requires election officials to make available to the public
information on all precinct boundaries, including the
boundaries of any subprecincts, if available, not just
modified boundaries. It also requires this information
include maps and be available in both print and electronic
formats.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Appropriations Committee, any additional
costs to counties will be covered by fees that county
elections officials are currently authorized to charge for
providing precinct materials.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/09)
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OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/18/09)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
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opposed to this bill "because it is likely to result in a
reimbursable state-mandated local program of unknown cost."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block, Furutani
DLW:mw 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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