BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2616
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2616 (Hill)
As Amended August 20, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |75-0 |(May 6, 2010) |SENATE: |23-8 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Requires elections officials to permit a vote by mail
(VBM) voter to find out whether his or her ballot was counted
and, if not, the reason why the ballot was not counted.
The Senate amendments :
1)Require county elections officials, instead of the Secretary
of State (SOS), 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. Require this information to be made
available by means of the county's elections division Internet
Web site, or if the county does not have such a Web site, by
means of a toll-free telephone number.
2)Add various findings and declarations about VBM voters and the
increasing number of voters who vote by mail.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required the SOS 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, by accessing the SOS's Internet web site.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS : 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
AB 2616
Page 2
signature on a [VBM] ballot envelope with the signature on the
voter's registration card. AB 2616 seeks to give VBM voters the
same rights afforded to provisional voters to find out whether
their ballot was counted."
This bill is substantially similar to AB 84 (Hill) of 2009. 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
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