BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1531 HEARING DATE:
6/29/10
AUTHOR: PORTANTINO ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 6/23/10
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Voter registration: one-stop voting
DESCRIPTION
Existing law , provides that an eligible elector may not
vote in an election unless his or her affidavit of
registration is executed and received by the county
elections official on or before the 15th day prior to the
election. However, existing law also permits an
individual who becomes a new United States citizen between
7 and 14 days before Election Day to register to vote up to
7 days prior to the election and to vote in that election.
Existing law , pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act
of 2002, requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to
establish a statewide voter registration database (known as
VoteCal) that shall serve as the state's official voter
file. According to the SOS, VoteCal will provide for,
among other things, real time voter registration
processing, checks of duplicate registrations, identity
authentication, and online voter registration. VoteCal is
currently designed and intended to be available and
accessible only at permanent offices of county elections
officials.
This bill would establish "one-stop voting" whereby an
eligible elector would be permitted to register or
reregister to vote and immediately vote on Election Day or
at any time prior to election day when ballots may be cast
at a location at which one-stop voting is available.
This bill would require that one-stop voting be available
at every permanent office of a county elections official
beginning January 1 of the year following the availability
of VoteCal. Each location at which one-stop voting is
available must have a separate area for the process and
have at least one precinct board member who is trained in
one-stop voting.
This bill would require voters availing themselves of
one-stop voting to present proof of identity and current
residence, as specified, and to complete an affidavit of
registration. Upon completing that registration and upon
verification, new voters would be immediately eligible to
vote by regular ballot. If the voter was previously
registered or is unable to complete that registration
because the voter is unable to present proof of identity or
proof of current residence, the voter would be permitted to
register and vote by a provisional ballot.
This bill would require each county elections official to
compile an index of voters who register to vote by one-stop
voting and, after an election, the elections official would
be required to send these voters a notification form. The
affidavit of registration of any person whose notification
form is returned by the post office as undeliverable shall
be placed in the inactive file. After the official canvass
of the votes for that election is completed, the elections
official would also be required to review the names on the
index and cancel duplicate registrations and notify the
district attorney and the SOS if it appears that a person
has engaged in fraudulent voting.
BACKGROUND
Other States . The following states have some form of
Election Day voter registration: Connecticut (for
presidential elections only), Idaho, Iowa, Maine,
Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina,
Wisconsin and Wyoming. North Dakota has no voter
registration requirement at all.
According to a study conducted by Dr. Michael McDonald,
Associate Professor at George Mason University, for the
United States Elections Project, nationwide turnout in the
2008 General Election among the voting-eligible population
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(VEP) was 61.7% which was identical to turnout among the
VEP in California for that election. Among the states that
have some form of Election Day voter registration, turnout
among the VEP for that election ranged from a low of 63.4%
in Iowa to a high of 78.1% in Minnesota with an overall
average of 68.7%.
2002 Initiative Measure . Proposition 52, which appeared on
the 2002 General Election ballot, would have allowed
eligible citizens, upon presenting proof of current
residence, to register up to and including Election Day.
That measure failed by a margin of 40.9% to 59.1%
COMMENTS
1.According to proponents , Election Day registration will
likely increase voter participation. They also contend
that much of the electorate does not focus on elections
until the final weeks or days before voting and after the
voter registration deadline has passed.
2.Similar Legislation . This bill is virtually identical to
SB 1140 (Yee), which is pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
PRIOR ACTION
Prior votes do not reflect the current version of this bill
which was completely rewritten.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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