BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1799
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1799 (Fong) - As Amended: March 23, 2010
SUBJECT : Voting: replacement ballots.
SUMMARY : Removes a requirement that a vote by mail (VBM) voter
who requests a replacement ballot must provide a statement under
penalty of perjury that he or she has failed to receive, lost,
or destroyed the original ballot in order to receive a
replacement ballot. Requires the elections official to verify
that a replacement ballot will not be counted if a voted
original ballot is received. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the elections official to keep a record of each VBM
ballot sent to and received from a voter, and verify, prior to
counting any replacement ballot, that the voter has not
already cast a ballot in the same election.
2)Provides that if an original VBM ballot is received from a
voter who has requested a replacement vote by mail ballot,
that original ballot shall be held until such time as it can
be determined that the voter does not intend to return the
replacement ballot, after which time it can be processed and
tallied.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the elections official to include with the sample
ballot an application for a VBM ballot.
2)Provides that the elections official shall send a second VBM
ballot to any voter upon receipt of a statement under penalty
of perjury that the voter has failed to receive, lost, or
destroyed his or her original ballot.
3)Requires the elections official to keep a record of each VBM
ballot sent to and received from a voter and to verify, prior
to counting any duplicate ballot, that the voter has not
attempted to vote twice. If it is determined that a voter has
attempted to vote twice, both ballots shall be void.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
AB 1799
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
The percentage of voters who vote by mail has increased
with every election and shows no signs of abating. For
instance, in California in the 1998 general election, 24
percent of the votes were cast with a vote by mail ballot
and in the 2008 general election, 41 percent of votes casts
were by vote by mail ballots.
Due to the increasing number of VBM ballots, it is not
practical, nor is there sufficient time to require a voter
to complete a written statement under penalty of perjury
prior to issuing a replacement ballot. AB 1799 will make
it easier for voters to request replacement ballots when
they have not received or have lost their original ballot
as well as save election officials the cost of processing
written request for second ballots. According to the
Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, in the November 2008
General Election, it cost the county approximately $30,000
to re-issue 4,042 ballots. It is estimated that the county
could have saved as much as $7,000 with the new
requirements of AB 1799.
2)VBM Voting in California : In the past few elections, the
number of voters choosing to vote using a VBM ballot has
increased significantly, particularly since the enactment of
AB 1520 (Shelley), Chapter 922, Statutes of 2001, which
allowed any voter to become a permanent VBM voter. Whereas
just over 25% of voters who participated in the 1998 statewide
primary election voted by VBM ballot, more than 41% of voters
who participated in the last six statewide elections voted by
mail. These trends suggest that the number of voters opting
to vote by VBM ballot will continue to increase.
3)Arguments in Support : The sponsor of this bill, the
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
(CACEO) asserts that "this proposal will expedite the vote by
mail process and eliminate inconvenience to voters and
unnecessary paperwork. The current process was established
long before computer systems were introduced to manage the
issuance and verification of vote by mail ballots. The
automated systems in use by elections officials today have
AB 1799
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build-in safeguards to ensure that only one ballot may be
counted for any vote by mail voter."
4)Related Legislation : SB 1725 (Bowen), Chapter 687, Statutes
of 2006, required elections officials to establish procedures
by March 1, 2008, to track and confirm the receipt of voted
VBM ballots and to make this information available by online
access using the county's elections division website, or if
none is available, by means of a toll-free telephone number.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
(sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094