BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1340
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1340 (Bonnie Lowenthal and V. Manuel Perez)
As Introduced February 27, 2009
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|Fong, Adams, Bill |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Berryhill, Coto, Mendoza, | |Ammiano, |
| |Saldana, Swanson | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| | | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Harkey, John A. Perez, |
| | | |Price, Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Audra Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Allows a ballot from a special absentee voter, as
defined, who is temporarily living outside the United States
(U.S.), or who is called for military service within the U.S. on
or after the final day to apply for a vote by mail (VBM) ballot,
to arrive up to 10 days after the election and still be counted,
provided that the ballot is postmarked on or before election
day. Makes corresponding changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines a "special absentee voter" as an elector who is any of
the following:
a) A member of the Armed Forces of the U.S. or any
auxiliary branch thereof;
b) A citizen of the U.S. temporarily living outside of the
territorial limits of the U.S. or the District of Columbia;
c) Serving on a merchant vessel documented under the laws
of the U.S.; or,
d) A spouse or dependent of a member of the Armed Forces or
any auxiliary branch thereof.
AB 1340
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2)Requires all VBM ballots to be received by the elections
official from whom they were obtained or by the precinct board
no later than the close of polls on election day in order to
be counted.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, 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 : According to the author, "AB 1340 allows military and
overseas voters' ballots that are postmarked on or before
Election Day to be counted if they are received by their
elections official 10 days after Election Day. 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 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."
The issue of counting VBM ballots received after election day
gained increased attention during the aftermath of the 2000
Presidential Election in Florida. VBM ballots cast in Florida
that are received from overseas are counted if received up to 10
days after the election, provided that the ballot is signed and
dated or postmarked on or prior to election day. That provision
of Florida law is the result of a consent decree, entered into
in 1982 due to concerns that overseas voters did not have
sufficient time between the primary and general election (which
were only a month apart) to receive, vote and return their
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ballots.
If this bill is enacted into law, it will represent the first
time that California has allowed any ballot which was received
after election day to be counted. Florida's experience with
counting ballots that arrive after election day shows that
adopting such a policy can result in a vote counting process
fraught with uncertainty, ambiguity, and unequal treatment of
votes. In a review of overseas VBM ballots that were counted in
Florida in 2000, the New York Times found that hundreds of
ballots that arrived after election day and were postmarked
after the election were improperly counted.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000854