BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2371
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 2371 (Anderson) - As Amended:  April 27, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Secretary of State (SOS), upon receiving  
          a written complaint alleging a violation of the Elections Code,  
          to acknowledge in writing receipt of the complaint to the person  
          who made the complaint within 21 days of its receipt.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact, as the SOS indicates the bill is  
          consistent with current practice.

          (The SOS's Election Fraud Investigation Unit primarily  
          investigates criminal violations of the California Elections  
          Code.  When a person files a complaint, a letter is sent  
          acknowledging receipt of the complaint.  The average response  
          time to acknowledge receipt of a complaint is approximately two  
          weeks, depending on the time of year (election season versus a  
          non-election season).)

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  According to the author, "Assembly Bill 2371 is a  
          voter rights bill that promotes a responsive and accountable  
          treatment of voter concerns, and guarantees a transparent  
          process of handling complaints of vote fraud.  The purpose of AB  
          2371 is to reasonably provide voters with a process that assures  
          that concerns about voter registration fraud are heard. Illegal  
          tampering with the voter registration process must be taken  
          seriously, and open communication between concerned citizens and  
          the authorities responsible for securing the electoral process  
          is vital to the health of our democracy."  
           








                                                                  AB 2371
                                                                  Page  2

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081