BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1689 HEARING DATE: 6/29/10
AUTHOR: TORRES ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 6/17/10
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Elections: Democratic Party
DESCRIPTION
Existing law provides specific procedures for the selection
of delegates and alternates to represent the state at the
national convention of the Democratic Party to nominate a
candidate for President of the United States.
Existing law requires the chairperson of the California
Democratic Party (CDP) to notify the Secretary of State
(SOS) at the time prescribed as to the number of delegates
that may be selected from each congressional district in
connection with the presidential primary. Requires
delegates and alternate delegates apportioned to each
congressional district to be selected based on the
proportion of the vote a presidential candidate or
uncommitted delegation receives within the congressional
district.
This bill requires the elements and practices to select
delegates and alternates to represent the state at a
National Convention of the Democratic Party to be the same
as set forth in the standing rules and bylaws of the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the CDP, including
the following:
a) The form and timeline for any required statement of
candidacy for delegate candidates;
b) The identification of the presidential preference of
delegate candidates;
c) The schedule for, conduct of, and type of districts
used to organize, caucuses for the selection of district
delegate and alternate candidates; and,
d) The allocation of delegates and alternates to
presidential preferences based on the results of the
primary election.
This bill requires the CDP to post any standing rules and
bylaws related to the above stated provisions on its
Internet Web site.
This bill permits a voter who has declined to state a party
affiliation to participate in the delegate selection
process in primaries of the CDP, if the CDP authorizes such
participation pursuant to existing law.
This bill requires the chairperson of the CDP to notify the
SOS on or before the 120th day prior to the presidential
primary election regarding the type of districts that may
be used to select delegates and alternates for the national
convention where the nominee of the Democratic Party for
President of the United States will be selected.
This bill removes a requirement that delegates and
alternates be selected based on Congressional Districts,
and instead provides that delegates and alternates will be
selected based on a formula specified by the DNC.
This bill moves up the deadline, from the 63rd day to the
68th day before a presidential primary election, for the
SOS to publicly announce and distribute to the news media
for publication a list of the selected Democratic
candidates that he or she intends to place on the ballot at
the following presidential primary election.
This bill changes the date by which a Democratic candidate
has to notify the SOS that he or she wishes to withdraw his
or her name from the list of recognized presidential
candidates from the 60th day to the 68th day before the
presidential primary election.
This bill moves up the deadline, from the 63rd day to the
73rd day prior to a presidential primary election, for an
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unselected candidate or an uncommitted delegation of
delegates to the National Convention of the Democratic
Party to submit nomination papers to appear on the ballot
at the presidential primary election.
This bill provides that if the Democratic National
Convention concludes after the deadline for the SOS to
deliver certificates of nomination to local elections
officials, the Chairperson of the Democratic State Central
Committee shall do one of the following:
(A) Notify the SOS of the "apparent" nomination of the
Democratic candidates for President and Vice President of
the United States not less than 78 days prior to the
election if all of the following conditions apply:
A candidate for President has attained a sufficient
number of delegate votes to assure his or her
nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
The candidate described in subparagraph (A) has
identified a person who will be nominated to run for
the office of Vice President.
The Democratic National Convention is likely to
nominate the person who is the choice of the candidate
for President in the Vice Presidential nomination.
(B) Notify the SOS of the apparent nomination of the
Democratic candidates for President and Vice President of
the United States as soon as each of these apparent
nominations become known but not less than 61 days prior to
the election, if all of the following conditions apply:
A candidate for President has attained a sufficient
number of delegate votes to assure his or her
nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
The candidate described in subparagraph (A) has
identified a person who will be nominated to run for
the office of Vice President.
The Democratic National Convention is likely to
nominate the person who is the choice of the candidate
for President in the Vice Presidential nomination.
This bill requires the previous section covering the
Democratic National Convention concluding after the
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deadline for the SOS to deliver certificates of nomination
to local elections officials becomes inoperative on January
1, 2013, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends
that date.
This bill requires the SOS to prepare the certificates of
nomination to include the names of the Democratic
candidates for President and Vice President as notified by
the Chairperson of the DSCC.
This bill makes various minor and technical changes to
provisions of state law governing the Democratic delegate
selection process to conform with the rules and bylaws of
the CDP and DNC, and repeals various provisions of state
law that are inconsistent with those rules and bylaws.
BACKGROUND
While political parties are treated as private
organizations with their own governing bylaws, state law
imposes some rules on parties, particularly in relation to
the state's conduct of elections. Current law provides
specific procedures for the selection of delegates and
alternates to represent the state at the national
convention of the Democratic Party to nominate a candidate
for President of the United States.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author : Generally, political parties
are treated as private organizations governed by their
own bylaws. However, state law does impose some rules on
them, particularly where their operations intersect with
the state's need to conduct elections. For example,
current state law contains provisions relating to the
selection of delegates and alternates to represent the
state at the Democratic National Convention. However,
these laws have not been updated to reflect changes
adopted by the DNC and CDP. Further, these laws have not
been updated to reflect other changes to the state's
election statutes.
AB 1689 makes multiple changes, for example, it removes
references to specific categories of delegates and
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formulas for allocating them and instead requires those
to be provided by the party. It also removes the
requirement that Caucus' be conducted before the state
primary and instead provides the party flexibility to set
those dates. The bill also makes changes to conform the
Act with other changes to the Elections Code.
2.Previous Legislation : AB 1396 (Torres), Chapter 392,
Statutes of 2009, specifies that the elements and
practices of a state central committee be the same as set
forth in the standing rules and bylaws of the Democratic
Party of California, and requires the party to post its
standing rules and bylaws on its Internet Web site.
AB 965 (Anderson), Chapter 60, Statutes of 2007, requires
that the membership of delegates to the state central
committee, the procedures for notification of members of
appointments, the use of proxies, and the form of
appointment of delegate members be as set forth in the
standing rules and bylaws of the California Republican
Party. AB 965 also requires the California Republican
Party to maintain a current copy of its standing rules
and bylaws for public inspection on the Internet.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 15-0
Assembly Floor: 74-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California Democratic Party
Oppose: None received
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