BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2797
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2797 (Elections and Redistricting Committee)
As Amended August 19, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(May 13, 2010) |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 24, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY : Makes various minor and technical changes to existing
law governing elections. Specifically, this bill :
1)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.
2)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 number of people who voted at
the precinct.
3)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.
The Senate amendments delete a portion of the bill that would
have repealed an obsolete provision of law that establishes a
revolving fund for the purchase of ballot paper in order to
avoid chaptering conflicts with SB 1404 (Pavley).
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
AB 2797
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FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : This is one of the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee's annual omnibus bills, containing
various minor and technical changes to provisions of state law
governing elections.
Under existing law, counties are reimbursed by the state for net
costs incurred by them in complying with various state voter
registration laws and for conducting certain voter outreach
programs. State law requires counties to submit claims for
those costs to the Controller by October 31 in the year
following the fiscal year in which the costs were incurred.
According to the State Controller's office, however, all other
claims are due on February 15, so in practice, they have allowed
counties to file claims for these costs until February 15. This
bill conforms state law to existing practice by extending the
deadline for counties to file claims for voter registration and
outreach costs from October 31 to February 15 in the year
following the fiscal year in which the costs were incurred.
This provision was requested to be included in an omnibus bill
by the State Controller's office.
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 bill
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. 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
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cast at that precinct. These provisions were requested to be
included in an omnibus bill by the Secretary of State's office.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0006530