BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1367
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1367 (Fletcher) - As Amended: April 28, 2009
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
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 or signed
and dated on or before election day and (b) received by the
elections official on or before the 21st 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 . The author cites a January 2009 report by the Pew
Center on the States as demonstrating the need for allowing
ballots to arrive up to 21 days after election day in order to
ensure that overseas voters have enough time to vote a ballot
and return that ballot in time to be counted. According to
the Assembly Elections Committee analysis, however, "even
though the conclusions of the Pew Center report seem to be
based on a misunderstanding of California law, the report
still indicates that California's overseas voters would have
enough time to vote by postal mail and without using the
electronic transmission options that are made available to
overseas voters if the state added at least three days to the
time allotted for ballots to be sent overseas and returned.
AB 1367
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The Pew Center report does not explicitly suggest that
California allow ballots to arrive up to 21 days after an
election and still be counted, as is proposed by this bill."
2)Conflicting Bills . Also on today's agenda is AB 1340
(Lowenthal), sponsored by the SOS, which is essentially the
same as AB 1367 except that AB 1340 allows overseas ballots
received up to 10 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 that 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