BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2154|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2154
Author: Solorio (D)
Amended: 3/24/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAPP. & C.A. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/15/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Denham, Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-19, 4/8/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vote by mail ballots
SOURCE : Orange County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill allows a local elections official to
offer a voter the ability to apply for a vote by mail (VBM)
voter's ballot by telephone. This bill requires a
telephone applicant for a VBM voter's ballot to provide
specified information to the elections official.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that an application for
a VBM ballot must be made in writing to the elections
official having jurisdiction over the election between the
29th and the 7th day prior to the election. The
application must be signed by the applicant and show
his/her place of residence. Existing law also permits
local elections officials to offer voters the ability to
electronically apply for a VBM ballot using the uniform
electronic application provided by the Secretary of State
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(SOS).
This bill permits a local elections official to allow
voters to apply for VBM ballots by telephone.
Specifically, this bill allows local elections officials to
offer voters the ability to apply for a VBM ballot by
telephone subject to the following conditions:
1. The applicant must provide to the elections official
personal identifying information that matches the
information contained on the applicant's affidavit of
registration, including first and last name, home
address, and date of birth. The applicant's signature
is not required for applications received by telephone.
2. Except as otherwise provided, all provisions governing
written applications for VBM ballots apply to
applications for VBM ballots made by telephone.
Background
VBM Popularity . 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 percent
of voters who participated in the 1998 statewide primary
election voted by VBM ballot, more than 41 percent of
voters who participated in the last five statewide
elections voted by mail. These trends suggest that the
number of voters opting to vote by VBM ballot will continue
to increase.
Prior Legislation
AB 84 (Hill), 2009-10 Session, would have required
elections officials to establish procedures to allow a VBM
voter to find out whether his/her VBM ballot was counted,
and if not the reason why it was not counted. The bill was
vetoed by the Governor who expressed concern that it could
result in additional costs to local governments.
AB 2964 (Levine), 2007-08 Session, which was substantially
similar to AB 84 was also vetoed by the Governor, though
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the Governor did not express any policy objections to the
bill.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/17/10)
Orange County Board of Supervisors (source)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
City of West Hollywood
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
existing California law requires that an application to
request a VBM ballot must be made in writing to the
elections official having jurisdiction over the election.
The applicant must sign the application and show his/her
place of residence, or apply online. Every election, large
numbers of voters call county elections departments to
request a VBM ballot over the telephone only to be told
they must fill out an application online or pick up a form
from the election official's office and then return it to
the elections department.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De Leon, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Nava, Norby, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick,
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Knight, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: De La Torre, Emmerson, Galgiani,
Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Logue, Monning, Nielsen,
V. Manuel Perez, Vacancy
DLW:mw 6/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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