BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2616
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 2616 (Hill) - As Amended: April 12, 2010
SUBJECT : Elections: vote by mail ballots.
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to establish
procedures that allows a vote by mail (VBM) voter to find out
whether his or her VBM ballot was counted, and, if not, the
reason why it was not counted. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the SOS, in coordination with county elections
officials, to establish procedures to permit a VBM voter to
find out if his or her ballot was counted and if not, the
reason why the ballot was not counted, by means of accessing
the SOS's Internet web site.
2)Requires the provisions of this bill to become operative when
VoteCal, the statewide voter registration database, is
implemented.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Outlines procedures for voting by mail and establishes
requirements for elections officials to compare the signature
on a VBM ballot envelope with that appearing on the affidavit
of registration. If the ballot is rejected because the
signatures do not compare, the envelope shall not be opened
and the ballot shall not be counted. The cause of the
rejection shall be written on the face of the identification
envelope.
2)Requires the elections officials to establish procedures to
track and confirm the receipt of VBM ballots and to make this
information available by means of online access using the
county's elections division Internet web site. If the county
does not have an elections division Internet web site,
requires the elections official to establish a toll-free
telephone number that may be used to confirm the date a voted
VBM ballot was received.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 2616
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Based on the numbers gathered by the Secretary of State, of
all the votes cast in the 2009 Statewide Special Election
62% of them were cast by mail. Twenty years ago, less than
10% of votes cast in the 1988 Primary were done through the
mail. Needless to say, voting by mail has increased
significantly over the past few years as a convenient
method of voting. Safeguards built into the method of
voting included requiring elections officials to verify the
signature on a [VBM] ballot envelope with the signature on
the voter's registration card. In some cases, a voter's
signature may have changed over time from the signature on
file as a result of age or illness. During the signature
verification process, if the signature on the ballot
envelope does not match the signature on file, the
elections official will disqualify the ballot and the
ballot will not be counted.
The Contra Costa County Clerk reports that, in his county,
between 1 and 2 percent of [VBM] ballots are typically
disqualified in each election. Unfortunately, these voters
have no way of knowing if their ballots are being counted,
and thus no way of rectifying the problem. VBM voters
often times continue to vote not knowing that their votes
will be and are being disqualified.
AB 2616 seeks to give VBM voters the same rights afforded
to provisional voters to find out whether their ballot was
counted. AB 2616 requires that once VoteCal is
implemented, that the Secretary of State work with local
elections officials to inform voters whose ballots are not
counted the reason why, thus giving voters the ability to
take corrective action to ensure that their vote is counted
in future elections.
2)Reasons Why a VBM Ballot Might Not be Counted : Under current
law, there are a number of reasons why a VBM ballot that was
completed and returned to the elections officials may not be
counted. One of the most common reasons is that many ballots
are received by the elections office after election day, and
state law requires that VBM ballots be received by the close
of polls on election day in order to be counted. A voter who
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was under the impression that his or her ballot would be
counted as long as the envelope was postmarked by election day
could repeatedly have his or her ballot not counted if that
voter regularly waited until election day to put their VBM
ballot in the mail. According to the Sacramento County
Registrar's Office, during the February 2008 primary election,
out of the 1,696 VBM ballots that were not counted, 920
ballots could not be counted because they were received after
the close of the polls.
The other primary reason why a VBM ballot might not be counted
is that the signature on the identification envelope does not
match the one on the voter's affidavit of registration.
During the February 2008 primary election, the Sacramento
County of Registrar's Office reported that 613 VBM ballots
were not counted because the signature was left off of the
ballot and 138 VBM ballots were not counted because the
signatures did not match the one on file. Illness and age can
be factors that contribute to a signature changing over time.
For example, many older voters do not realize that the
signature on file with the registrar of voters no longer
matches their current signature and as a result their VBM
ballot may not be counted. By requiring elections officials
to provide a way for VBM voters to verify if their ballot has
been counted and a reason if it was not counted, voters whose
ballots were unable to be counted can take appropriate steps
to ensure that their VBM ballots are counted in the future.
3)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 five statewide elections voted by
mail. These trends suggest that the number of voters opting
to vote by VBM ballot will continue to increase.
4)Electronic Application for VBM Ballots : AB 2277 (Keeley),
Chapter 753, Statutes of 2002, requires the SOS to provide
local election officials with a uniform electronic application
format for VBM ballots and gives local elections officials the
option of allowing voters to apply for VBM ballots
electronically.
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5)Arguments in Support : According to the bill's sponsor,
Secretary of State Debra Bowen, "voting by mail has increased
significantly over the past few years as a convenient method
of voting. One of the safeguards built into this method of
voting to prevent fraud is the requirement that elections
officials verify the signature on a VBM ballot envelope by
comparing it to the signature on the voter's registration. AB
2616 gives VBM voters the same rights afforded to provisional
voters to find out whether their ballots were counted.
Enactment of this bill will be contingent on the
implementation of the HAVA complaint statewide voter database,
known as VoteCal."
6)Previous Legislation : AB 84 (Hill) of 2009, was a similar
bill that would have required elections officials to establish
procedures to allow a VBM voter to find out whether his or her
VBM ballot was counted, and if not the reason why it was not
counted. AB 84 was vetoed by the Governor who expressed
concern that it could result in additional costs to local
governments. AB 2964 (Levine) of 2008, which was substantially
similar to AB 84 was also vetoed by the Governor, though 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.
SB 613 (Perata), Chapter 809, Statutes of 2003, in part
requires the establishment of a free access system allowing a
voter casting a provisional ballot to confirm whether their
ballot was counted and, if not, the reason it was not counted.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Secretary of State Debra Bowen (Sponsor)
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
AB 2616
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Qiana Charles / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094