BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2797|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2797
Author: Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee
Amended: 5/10/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/13/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: voter registration and ballots
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill makes various changes in the existing
law governing elections as follows: (a) moves back the
deadline for a county to submit claims for reimbursement
for costs incurred by the county in complying with various
voter registration laws from October 31 to February 15 in
the year following the fiscal year in which the costs were
incurred; (b) repeals an obsolete provision of law that
establishes a revolving fund for the purchase of ballot
paper; (c) provides that in cases where a precinct board
would be required to post the results of ballots cast at
the precinct, the precinct board shall not do so if fewer
than 10 voters cast ballots in the precinct in order to
protect the secrecy of those voters' ballots. Provides
instead that the precinct board shall post only the total
CONTINUED
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number of people who voted at the precinct; and (d)
provides that in cases where a precinct board would be
required to post the results of ballots cast on a voting
machine at the precinct, the precinct board shall not do so
with respect to any machine on which fewer than 10 voters
cast ballots, in order to protect the secrecy of those
voters' ballots. Provides instead that the precinct board
shall post only the total number of people who voted on
that machine.
ANALYSIS :
Ballot Paper Revolving Fund : Existing law establishes a
continuously-appropriated revolving fund in the state
treasury for the purchase of ballot paper and punchcards.
However, according to the office of the Secretary of State,
that provision of law is obsolete, and the revolving fund
is not used for the purchase of ballot paper.
This bill repeals the provisions of existing law that
establish the revolving fund, and makes a corresponding
change.
Posting of Election Results : Existing law requires the
results of votes cast on voting machines at a polling place
to be posted outside the polling place after the polls
close on Election Day. However, because of changes in
technology and restrictions on the use of certain types of
voting machines, most counties have only one voting machine
per polling place, which is used to comply with state and
federal laws that require that voters with disabilities be
given the opportunity to cast a vote without assistance.
As a result, it is often the case that few ballots are cast
on a voting machine at a polling place, so posting the
results of votes cast on those machines could compromise
the secrecy of the ballot of those voters who used that
machine.
This proposal provides that in cases where fewer than 10
voters cast ballots on machines on which the results are
tallied at the precinct and posting the results may violate
a person's right to cast a secret ballot, the precinct
board shall post only the total number of people who voted
at the precinct on machines that keep vote tallies.
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Additionally, this bill provides that if a precinct board
tallies votes manually at the polling place and fewer than
10 voters cast ballots at that polling place, the precinct
board shall post only the total number of people who voted
at the precinct instead of posting the results of ballots
cast at that precinct. These provisions were requested to
be included in an omnibus bill by the Secretary of State's
office.
Previous Legislation
SB 541 (Pavley) of 2009 proposed to repeal the provisions
of the Elections Code that establish the ballot paper
revolving fund, similar to a provision in this bill. SB
541 was vetoed by the Governor for unrelated reasons.
SB 1404 (Pavley) from this year is a reintroduction of SB
541, and similarly proposes to repeal the provisions of the
Elections Code that establish the ballot paper revolving
fund. SB 1404is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/10)
Secretary of State
State Controller John Chiang
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
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Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Norby, Skinner, Vacancy
DLW:do 7/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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