BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1271 HEARING DATE: 7/7/09
AUTHOR: KREKORIAN ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 4/28/09
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Elections: vote by mail ballots
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires that an application for a vote by
mail (VBM) voter's ballot be made in writing to the
elections officials having jurisdiction over the election
between the 29th and the 7th day prior to the election.
Existing law authorizes a VBM voter to deliver by mail or
in person his or her VBM ballot.
Existing law allows the elections official to issue the
ballot to the applicant or his or her spouse, child,
parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or a person
residing in the same household, provided that the
individual to whom the ballot is being issued is 16 years
of age or older and is authorized by the VBM voter to
receive the ballot.
Existing law provides that if a VBM voter is unable to
return his or her VBM ballot due to illness or physical
disability, that voter may designate his or her spouse,
child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or
a person residing in the same household as the VBM voter,
to return the VBM ballot.
This bill clarifies that an application for a VBM ballot
must be received by the elections official by the 7th day
prior to an election.
This bill allows a VBM voter to designate in writing an
"authorized representative" who is 16 years of age or older
to deliver or receive a VBM ballot on his or her behalf.
This bill deletes the requirement that a voter be ill or
physically disabled to have his or her VBM ballot returned
by specified individuals as noted in existing law above,
and instead allows a VBM voter to designate an "authorized
representative" to return the voter's ballot.
This bill defines an "authorized representative" as a
person who is designated in writing by a voter to the
elections official to receive, return, or both receive and
return, the voter's VBM ballot.
This bill prohibits an authorized representative from being
a candidate or the spouse of a candidate, or a paid or
volunteer worker of a general purpose committee, controlled
committee, independent expenditure committee, political
party, campaign committee of a candidate, or any other
group or organization at whose behest the individual
designated to receive the ballot, return the ballot, or
both receive and return the ballot, is performing a
service. Excludes the VBM ballot of a candidate and his or
her spouse from this prohibition.
BACKGROUND
Restrictions on Delivery of Vote by Mail Ballots : While
VBM voting has increased significantly over the past few
years as a convenient method of voting, existing law
limits who may pick up or drop off a ballot for a VBM
voter, generally restricting such activities to immediate
family members or people living in the same household as
the VBM voter. Existing law also requires a VBM voter to
return his or her own ballot, unless he or she is ill or
physically disabled.
COMMENTS
1. According to the bill's sponsor : Since 1995, voting by
mail has become extremely popular as a convenient method
of voting. In the November 2008 General Election, more
than 41% of voters (5,722,465) chose to mail in their
ballots rather than voting at a polling place on
Election Day. Existing law allows a voter's authorized
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representative to pick up and drop off a VBM ballot for
a voter any time after the VBM application deadline has
passed (between 0 and 7 days before the election).
However, if a request is made prior to the VBM
application deadline (more than 7 days before the
election), existing law only permits a relative or
someone living at the same address of the voter to pick
up or return the VBM ballot.
By allowing an "authorized representative" to pick up
and/or drop off a VBM ballot regardless of if the
requests before or after the VBM application deadline,
AB 1271 will remove barriers to participation while
maintaining existing safeguards against voter fraud. It
will also maintain the prohibition in existing law that
precludes campaign workers from picking up or returning
a voter's vote-by-mail ballot.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-2
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 10-5
Assembly Floor: 50-29
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Secretary of State
Support: California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials (CACEO)
CALPIRG
Oppose: None received
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