BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
BILL NO: SB 211 HEARING
DATE: 8/23/10
AUTHOR: SIMITIAN ANALYSIS
BY: Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 8/2/10
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Special congressional elections
DESCRIPTION
Existing state law provides for all of the following:
Requires a special election held to fill a vacancy in
Congress to be filled on an expedited timetable if the
vacancy was caused by a catastrophe. Defines a
"catastrophe," for these purposes, as a natural or
man-made event that causes a vacancy in at least
one-fourth of the total number of offices of the U.S.
House of Representatives, including at least one office
representing California, or at least one-fourth of the
total number of offices representing California.
Requires the Governor to issue a proclamation calling a
special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House of
Representatives that is caused by a catastrophe, as
defined, within seven days of the catastrophe.
Requires a special election held to fill a vacancy in the
U.S. House of Representatives that is caused by a
catastrophe, as defined, to be conducted on a Tuesday at
least 56 days, but not more than 63 days, following the
issuance of an election proclamation by the Governor.
Allows the special election to be conducted within 90
days of the proclamation in order that the special
election may be consolidated with the next regularly
scheduled statewide election or local election occurring
wholly or partially within the same territory in which
the vacancy exists, provided that the voters eligible to
vote in the local election comprise at least 50 percent
of all the voters eligible to vote on the vacancy.
Provides that when a special election is held to fill a
vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives that is
caused by a catastrophe, as defined, no special primary
election is held. Permits nomination papers to be
circulated between the 32nd day and the 46th day before
the special election. Permits an application for a VBM
ballot to be submitted not more than 28 days prior to the
special general election, but provides that applications
received by the elections official prior to the 28th day
prior to the election shall be held by the official and
processed following the 28th day prior to the election.
Existing federal law provides for all of the following:
Requires, in extraordinary circumstances, a special
election to be held to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House
of Representatives not later than 49 days after the
Speaker of the House announces that the vacancy exists
unless, during the 75-day period which begins on the date
of the announcement of the vacancy, a regularly scheduled
general election for the office involved is to be held,
or another special election for the office involved is
already scheduled for that 75-day period. Specifies that
"extraordinary circumstances" exist, for these purposes,
when the Speaker of the House of Representatives
announces that there are more than 100 vacancies in the
House.
Provides that the determination of candidates who will
appear on the ballot for a special election held under
extraordinary circumstances, as described above, shall be
made pursuant to one of the following:
-- By nominations made by the qualified political parties
in the State not later than 10 days after the Speaker
announces that the vacancy exists; or,
-- By any other method the State considers appropriate,
including holding primary elections, as long as the
special general election will be held within the deadline
specified above.
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Provides that in conducting a special election held under
extraordinary circumstances, as described above, the
State shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable
(including through the use of electronic means) that
absentee ballots for the election are transmitted to
absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters not
later than 15 days after the Speaker of the House of
Representatives announces that the vacancy exists.
Requires the State to accept and process any otherwise
valid ballot or other election material from an absent
uniformed services voter or overseas voter so long as the
ballot or other material is received by the appropriate
State election official not later than 45 days after the
State transmits the ballot or other material to the
voter.
This bill revises existing procedures for holding special
elections to fill vacancies in the California congressional
delegation when a large number of vacancies occur in
Congress. Specifically, this bill:
1.Reduces, from one-fourth of the seats to 101 seats, the
number of vacancies that must occur in the U.S. House of
Representatives to trigger an expedited special election
schedule for filling any vacancy in the California
congressional delegation.
2.Provides that if an expedited special election schedule
is triggered due to vacancies in at least 101 seats in
the U.S. House of Representatives, the special elections
to fill those vacancies shall be held within 49 days
following the announcement of the vacancy by the Speaker
of the U.S. House of Representatives. Requires the
Governor to issue a proclamation calling the election
within one day of the announcement of the vacancy by the
Speaker. Provides that no special election shall be
conducted in these circumstances if either of the
following is scheduled to occur within 75 days of the
date of the announcement of the vacancy by the Speaker:
a) A regularly scheduled general election for the
vacant office; or,
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b) A special election for the vacant office,
conducted pursuant to a proclamation issued by the
Governor prior to the date on which the Speaker
announced the vacancy.
3.Provides that if an expedited special election schedule
is triggered due to vacancies in at least one-fourth of
the California Congressional delegation, but less than
101 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the
special elections to fill those vacancies shall be held
on a Tuesday not more than 49 days following the issuance
of an election proclamation by the Governor. Permits a
special election held under these circumstances to be
conducted within 75 days following the proclamation in
order that the special election may be consolidated with
the next regularly scheduled statewide election or local
election occurring wholly or partially within the same
territory in which the vacancy exists, provided that the
voters eligible to vote in the local election comprise at
least 50 percent of all the voters eligible to vote on
the vacancy.
4.Makes minor adjustments to the deadlines for a candidate
to file for office and for a voter to request a
vote-by-mail ballot for a special election held under an
expedited schedule as described above.
5.Allows a VBM ballot for one of these special elections
cast by a U.S. citizen who is residing overseas to be
counted if it arrives up to 45 days after the date on
which the election official transmitted the ballot to the
voter, instead of by the close of the polls on election
day. Allows the Secretary of State to extend deadlines
relating to canvassing and announcement of election
results as necessary to ensure that VBM ballots cast by
U.S. citizens who are residing overseas are counted.
BACKGROUND
AB 2760 (Simitian), Chapter 658, Statutes of 2002, which
was enacted in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks, established procedures for expedited special
elections to fill vacancies in congressional offices caused
by a natural or man-made catastrophe. Under the provisions
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of AB 2760, if at least one-fourth of the seats in the U.S.
House of Representatives or at least one-fourth of the
seats in the California congressional delegation become
vacant due to a natural or man-made catastrophe, the
Governor must issue an election proclamation to schedule a
special election for any vacant seat in the California
congressional delegation within seven days, and any such
special election must be held not later than 63 days after
the issuance of a proclamation. Under these circumstances,
no special primary election is held; the special election
is a winner-take-all election in which the candidate who
receives the plurality of votes is elected, regardless of
the percentage of the vote that candidate receives.
Subsequent to California's approval of AB 2760, the federal
government enacted the Continuity in Representation Act as
part of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2006
(H.R. 2985 of the 109th Congress). The provisions of the
Continuity in Representation Act were similar to the
provisions of AB 2760, but differed on a few key details.
For instance, while the expedited special election process
is triggered under AB 2760 when one-fourth of the seats in
the US House of Representatives become vacant (109 seats in
the current 435-seat House), the Continuity in
Representation Act requires expedited special elections to
be held whenever more than 100 seats become vacant.
Additionally, while AB 2760 allows an expedited special
election to be held up to 70 days after a catastrophe
occurs (seven days for the Governor to issue an election
proclamation, and up to an additional 63 days from that
time until the election), the Continuity in Representation
Act requires special elections to be held within 49 days,
except in certain limited circumstances. This bill makes
numerous changes to provisions of state law that were
originally enacted by AB 2760 in order to conform to the
Continuity in Representation Act.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author , SB 211 will promote continuity
of government in the face of a natural disaster, act of
war or other catastrophic event. SB 211 conforms state
law to federal law in order to ensure that California is
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prepared to hold expedited Congressional elections if
there is a catastrophic event (e.g., terrorist act or act
of war) that leads to 101 or more Members of the United
States Congress or of the California Congressional
delegation being killed, missing, or disabled.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 6-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 17-0
Assembly Floor: 76-0
(Since this bill was completely rewritten in the Assembly
the prior Senate votes do not reflect the current version
of the bill.)
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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