BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2371 HEARING DATE: 6/29/10
AUTHOR: ANDERSON ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: 4/27/10
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Secretary of State: voter registration fraud
DESCRIPTION
Existing law makes the Secretary of State (SOS) the chief
elections officer of the state, responsible for the
administration of the provisions of the Elections Code.
Existing law requires the SOS to see that elections are
efficiently conducted and that state election laws are
enforced.
Existing law requires the SOS to call violations of state
election laws to the attention of the district attorney of
the county or to the Attorney General (AG) if he or she
concludes that state election laws are not being enforced.
Existing law allows the SOS to examine voted, unvoted,
spoiled and canceled ballots, vote-counting computer
programs, absent voter envelopes and applications, supplies
or any other records of elections officials in order to
determine whether an election law violation has occurred.
Existing law permits the SOS to adopt regulations to assure
the uniform application and administration of state
election laws.
This bill requires the SOS, within 21 days of receiving a
written complaint from a person alleging that a violation
of the Elections Code has occurred in his or her county, to
acknowledge in writing, receipt of the complaint.
BACKGROUND
The SOS's Election Fraud Investigation Unit primarily
investigates criminal violations of the California
Elections Code. According to the Investigation Unit, when
a person files a complaint, a letter is sent acknowledging
receipt of the complaint. The average response time for
the Investigation Unit to acknowledge receipt of a
complaint is approximately two weeks, depending on the time
of year (election season versus a non-election season) that
a complaint is received. Next, an initial evidentiary
review of the complaint is conducted. If the initial
evidentiary review concludes that there was no violation of
election law, the file is closed, and the person filing the
complaint is notified of the decision.
If the initial evidentiary review leads to an investigation
being opened, that investigation can lead to one of two
conclusions, both of which conclude with the complainants
being notified of the resolution:
If there is not enough evidence developed during the
investigation to warrant a referral of the case to a
district attorney or the AG for prosecution, the person
who filed the complaint is notified of this fact.
If there is enough evidence developed during the
investigation to warrant a referral of the case to a
district attorney or the AG for prosecution, the person
who filed the complaint is notified.
The average timeframe for a person to receive a
notification from the Investigation Unit will vary
depending on whether there is sufficient evidence to
warrant a referral of the case to a district attorney or
the AG.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author : If an individual files a
complaint with the Secretary of State that they believe a
violation of the Elections Code has taken place, there is
no requirement that the Secretary of State acknowledge
the receipt of that complaint at all, let alone in a
timely manner. This bill requires the Secretary of State
AB 2371 (ANDERSON) Page
2
to respond to a complaint within 21 days, assuring the
complainant that their concerns were heard.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 7-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 76-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
AB 2371 (ANDERSON) Page
3