BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1681 HEARING DATE:
6/15/10
AUTHOR: YAMADA ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
All-mailed ballot elections: pilot program
DESCRIPTION
Existing law permits an election to be conducted wholly by
mail if the governing body authorizes the use of mailed
ballots for the election, the election occurs on an
established mailed ballot election date, and the election
is one of the following:
An election in which no more than 1,000 registered voters
are eligible to participate;
An election in a city, county, or district with 5,000 or
fewer registered voters that is restricted to the
imposition of special taxes, expenditure limitation
overrides, or both;
An election on the issuance of a general obligation water
bond;
An election in one of four specifically enumerated water
districts; or,
An election or assessment ballot proceeding required or
authorized by the state constitution under Proposition
218.
Existing law authorizes a school district or city with a
population of 100,000 or less to conduct an all-mail ballot
election to fill a vacancy in a special election.
Existing law authorizes a district to conduct any election
as an all-mailed ballot election on any date other than an
established election date.
This bill would create a pilot program allowing Yolo County
to conduct not more than three local elections as all-mail
ballot elections subject to the following conditions:
A.The governing body of the city, county, or district, by
resolution, authorizes the all-mailed ballot election and
notifies the Secretary of State (SOS) of its intent to
conduct an all-mailed ballot election at least 88 days
prior to the date of the election.
B.The election does not occur on the same date as a
statewide primary or general election or any other
election conducted in an overlapping jurisdiction that is
not consolidated and conducted as an all-mailed ballot
election.
C.The election is not a special election to fill a vacancy
in a state office, the State Legislature, or Congress.
D.At least one polling place is provided in each city
within the jurisdiction and is open to receive voted
ballots for at least two weeks before the date of the
election and until 8 p.m. on the day of the election.
E.The elections official delivers to each voter all
supplies necessary for the use and return of the mail
ballot, including an envelope for the return of the voted
mail ballot, postage prepaid.
F.The elections official delivers to each voter, with
either the sample ballot or with the voter's ballot, a
list of the polling places provided under this bill. The
list of polling places must also be posted on the
Internet Web site of the Yolo County Elections Office.
G.The return of voted mail ballots is subject to the same
procedures for the return of vote by mail (VBM) ballots
at a regular election.
H.The polling places provided pursuant to this bill are at
an accessible location and are equipped with voting units
or systems that are accessible to individuals with
disabilities and that provide the same opportunity for
access and participation, including the ability to vote
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
2
privately and independently.
I.The county report to the Legislature and to the SOS
regarding the success of the election. Requires the
report to include, but not be limited to, any statistics
on the cost to conduct the election; the turnout of
different populations, including whenever possible, but
not limited to, the population categories of race,
ethnicity, age, gender, disability, permanent VBM status,
and political party affiliation; the number of ballots
that were not counted and the reasons why they were
rejected; voter fraud; and any other problems that became
known to the county during the election or canvass.
J.Requires the report, whenever possible, to compare the
success of the all-mailed ballot election to similar
elections not conducted as all-mailed ballot elections in
the same jurisdiction.
AA. Requires the report to be submitted to the
Legislature within 6 months after the date of an
all-mailed ballot election or prior to the date of any
other all-mailed ballot election conducted under this
bill, whichever is sooner.
BB. Contains a December 31, 2016 sunset date.
BACKGROUND
A Little All-Mail History . Several California counties
have conducted all-mail ballot elections. Monterey
conducted one of the first vote-by-mail elections ever held
in the United States in 1977 on a flood control measure.
Alpine County conducted its first all-mail election in
November, 1993 for a countywide special election. San
Diego used all-mail balloting in May 1981 for a measure
proposing to build a $224 million convention center.
Stanislaus County conducted its first all-mail ballot
election in 1987 for the Modesto City Charter.
In 1992, the Legislature approved a pilot project in
Stanislaus and Placer counties. The counties were allowed
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
3
to conduct all-mail ballot elections. Placer County did
not utilize this pilot project but Stanislaus County
conducted the 1993 Statewide Special Election as an
all-mail ballot election.
All-mail ballot elections conducted in California as well
as other states have generally shown increases in voter
turnout and significant decreases in the cost of conducting
elections. During Stanislaus County's all-mail ballot
pilot project, the County saved almost half of its usual
election expenditures. Stanislaus County generally
reported turnout levels at six to eight percentage points
below the state's average. During the 1993 Statewide
Special Election, the County's turnout was 6.8 percent
higher than the statewide average during that election.
Oregon has been conducting all-mail ballot elections for
non-partisan and ballot measure elections for 20 years. In
1998 the voters passed an initiative expanding vote-by-mail
to primary and general elections.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author : The popularity of voting by mail
in local and state elections has steadily increased in
California since the state began permitting voters to
register as permanent mail ballot voters in 2001. Many
voters prefer the convenience of voting by mail, which
traditionally costs County Registrars less per vote than
poll voting. Research indicates that all-mail ballot
elections tend to increase turnout, decrease costs and do
not result in voter fraud, yet we have no detailed
reports to evaluate these specific claims.
In 2001, Monterey County conducted an all-mail election
which did require a report to be submitted to the State
Legislature. The county claimed the election had been a
success, but the submitted report lacked the detail
needed to support these claims.
AB 1681 will allow Yolo County to conduct up to three local
all vote-by-mail elections subject to prescribed
conditions to minimize their impact on voters who
traditionally vote at the polls. These conditions
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
4
include, but are not limited to, requiring pre-paid
return postage, one polling place per city, a prescribed
number of ballot drop-off sites, and a process to ensure
the timely mailing of ballots and sample ballots. In
addition, this bill will require the Registrar of Voters
to provide the state with a detailed report on the impact
of these all vote-by-mail elections, including a cost
comparison to a traditional election; data on the impact
on turnout for various types of voters of varying
demographics; and the reasons for returned mail ballots
that were not counted.
The Governor vetoed similar legislation last year (AB 1228)
saying that:
"Under the provisions of this bill, one polling place would
be open per city. This limit would significantly
increase the distance needed to travel to vote in-person.
This burden would fall disproportionately on those who
are less mobile, frequently poor, disabled and elderly."
AB 1681 also calls for one (1) polling place per city as
well as multiple drop-off sites. These polling and
drop-off locations must be accessible to individuals with
disabilities. Polling places must be equipped with
voting systems that allow for the same opportunity for
access and participation for people with disabilities
that other voters receive.
By sending ballots directly to the voter, this legislation
should increase the participation by those that are less
mobile - often poor, disabled or elderly voters who may
have difficulty getting to a polling location. The study
required in this bill will help determine whether
vote-by-mail elections will make voting more accessible
to those with less mobility or who have fewer
transportation options.
2.Vote By Mail and Permanent Vote By Mail Voting . Under
state law, any voter can request a VBM ballot for any
election, and any voter can become a permanent VBM voter.
Permanent VBM voters automatically receive a ballot in
the mail for every election, without the need to re-apply
for a VBM ballot. As such, any voter who prefers to vote
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
5
by mail has the ability to do so under existing law.
Among the arguments that supporters of all-mailed ballot
elections frequently make in support of such elections is
that all-mailed ballot elections are more convenient for
voters. However, it is not clear whether this is the
case. Any voter who finds it more convenient to vote by
mail has the option to do so under existing law, and
voters who want to vote by mail at every election can
sign up for permanent VBM status.
Unlike many of the previous bills that would have
authorized all-mailed ballot elections, whether on a
permanent or on a pilot project basis, this bill
explicitly requires Yolo County to report back to the
Legislature on the impact that the all-mailed ballot
election had on turnout of voters by permanent VBM
status. As a result, this pilot project may provide the
Legislature with more information about whether
all-mailed ballot elections may, in some circumstances,
be more convenient for voters than traditional elections,
in which voters may request to vote by mail, but are not
compelled to do so.
3.Monterey County Pilot Project . AB 319 (Salinas), Chapter
385 of 2001, allowed Monterey County to conduct any
election within the county wholly by mail, provided that
the election did not contain a state or federal office.
AB 319 specified that it was to serve as a pilot project
for mailed ballot elections, and required Monterey County
to report to the Legislature and the SOS regarding the
success of the election, including, but not limited to,
any statistics on the increase of voter fraud. The pilot
project ended on December 31, 2005. AB 591 (Salinas) of
2005 sought to extend the pilot project until December
31, 2008, but that bill failed after never being heard in
the Senate Elections Committee.
Unfortunately, the report filed by Monterey County as part
of the pilot project lacked much of the information that
is necessary to evaluate the impacts of the pilot
project. Although the report indicated that mailed
ballot elections increased turnout, decreased costs, and
did not result in voter fraud, the report lacked the
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
6
detail necessary to evaluate these claims.
4.Previous Legislation . This bill is identical to AB 1228
(Yamada) of 2009, except that AB 1228 would have allowed
both Yolo and Santa Clara Counties to participate in the
all-mail ballot pilot project. As noted above by the
author, AB 1228 was vetoed by the Governor, who expressed
concern that the bill could "significantly increase the
distance needed to travel to vote in-person."
5.Other Related Legislation . SB 1102 (Liu), which is
pending on the Senate Inactive File, would allow a
special general or primary election called to fill a
Congressional, Assembly, or State Senate vacancy to be
conducted wholly by mail under specified conditions. AB
1654 (Huffman) of 2007 would have allowed jurisdictions
in Calaveras, Marin, Mariposa, Nevada, Plumas, Santa
Barbara, Siskiyou, and Sonoma counties to conduct any
local, special, primary, or general election as an
all-mail ballot election until December 31, 2013. AB
1654 was approved by the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee but subsequently was amended to
deal with an unrelated issue.
AB 867 (Liu) of 2005 would have authorized Calaveras,
Mendocino, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sierra, and
Ventura Counties to conduct all elections as all-mail
ballot elections until January 1, 2011. AB 867 was held
on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 5-0
Assembly Floor: 49-25
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Yolo County Clerk/Recorder
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
7
Support: City Clerks Association of California
City of Thousand Oaks
Disability Rights California
League of California Cities
Orange County Taxpayers Association
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Yolo County Board of Supervisors
Oppose: None received
AB 1681 (YAMADA) Page
8