BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1340
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1340 (Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires county elections officials to count the vote
of a special absentee voter temporarily living outside the
United States if the voter's ballot is (a) postmarked on or
before election day and (b) received by the elections official
on or before the 10th day following the election.
FISCAL EFFECT
Likely minor reimbursable costs for counties to sort through
ballots arriving too late and determine which ones are eligible
to be counted pursuant to this bill. According to the Secretary
of State (SOS), for the November 2008 election, about 1,900
(2.8%) of the 69,800 overseas ballots returned were rejected for
arriving after election day.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the sponsor, the SOS, "Special absentee
voters confront a variety of challenges when voting that are
often out of their control. Given the time necessary to mail
a ballot to a voter overseas and mail the ballot back, the
ballot may not be received by the elections official prior to
the polls closing on Election Day. California law allows a
special absentee voter to return a voted ballot by facsimile
transmission. However in order to be counted, the ballot must
be received by the voter's county elections official before
the polls on Election Day and must be accompanied by a signed
"oath of voter" declaration acknowledging the voter is waiving
their right to cast a secret ballot.
"AB 1340 provides military and overseas voters with another
AB 1340
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option to send back their ballot - one that will allow them to
retain their right to a secret ballot. Eighteen other states
permit military and overseas voters to exercise an option that
is identical or similar to the one found in AB 1340."
2)Conflicting Bills . Also on today's agenda is AB 1367
(Fletcher), which is essentially the same as AB 1340 except
that AB 1367 allows overseas ballots received up to 21 days
after the election to be counted. It is not this committee's
practice to pass two bills that are so obviously in conflict.
Because the shorter time period in AB 1340 makes it less
likely for this bill to hinder timely completion of the
official canvas, it would seem the more prudent course at this
time.
It should be noted that, of the 1,900 overseas ballots
received after election day in November 2008, 92% were
received within one week following the election. It should
also be noted that the application of either bill could delay
the canvas for special elections and thus, for example, delay
the filling of vacancies in the Legislature or in Congress.
AB 1340 would have less of an impact in this regard, however.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081