BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






               SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND  
                           CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
                          Senator Loni Hancock, Chair


          BILL NO:   SB 387                            HEARING DATE:   
          4/21/09
          AUTHOR:    HANCOCK                           ANALYSIS BY:    
             Darren Chesin
          AMENDED:   3/31/09
          FISCAL:    YES
          
                                     SUBJECT
           
          Ballots: identifying information

                                   DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  prohibits a voter from placing any mark upon a  
          ballot that will make the ballot identifiable.   
          Furthermore, a ballot that is not marked as provided by law  
          or that is marked or signed by the voter so that the ballot  
          can be identified by others must be rejected.  

           Existing law  provides that any ballot that is torn, bent,  
          or otherwise defective must be corrected so that every vote  
          cast by the voter can be counted by the automatic  
          tabulating equipment.  If necessary, a true duplicate copy  
          of the defective ballot must be made and substituted  
          therefore, following the intention of the voter insofar as  
          it can be ascertained from the defective ballot.  

           This bill  would instead prohibit a voter from placing  
          personal information, as defined, upon a ballot that  
          identifies the voter. This bill would provide that instead  
          of rejecting a ballot that contains personal information it  
          must be segregated in a specified manner and would require  
          that a duplicate ballot be prepared in the same manner as  
          other defective ballots.   "Personal information" includes  
          all of the following:

           The signature of the voter.
           The initials, name, or address of the voter.
           A voter identification number.
           A social security number.
           A driver's license number.










           This bill  would also require that ballots include in their  
          instructions to voters that marking the ballot outside of  
          the designated space to vote for a candidate or measure may  
          compromise the secrecy of the ballot.




                                    BACKGROUND  
          
           Marked Ballots  :                 Prior to the advent of  
          voting systems that use an automated tabulation component,  
          paper ballots were routinely counted by hand.  If the  
          elections official who was hand-counting those ballots was  
          compliant, vote-buying could occur if a voter made an  
          identifying mark on his or her ballot.  In order to address  
          this possibility, the law provided that any distinguishing  
          marks or erasures would render a ballot void.  However,  
          according to the Secretary of State, cases of "vote  
          selling" and individuals marking a ballot to indicate  
          they've voted a particular way is extremely rare to  
          nonexistent while many ballots are currently rejected for  
          extraneous, often inadvertent marks made by a voter.  With  
          the increased use of optically scanned paper ballots that  
          require the voter to mark the ballot with an ordinary ink  
          pen, it is common for voters to scribble on the ballot to  
          ensure that the ink in the pen is flowing or they simply  
          and innocently doodle on the ballot while deciding how to  
          vote.

                                     COMMENTS  
          
           1.According to the author  , voters should not be  
            disenfranchised for making harmless, extraneous marks on  
            a paper ballot.  Concerns over vote buying in this  
            fashion are no longer legitimate.  Ballots that contain  
            personal information should also be remade and not be  
            rejected.
           
                                   POSITIONS  

          Sponsor: Secretary of State

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          2  
           








           Support: None received

           Oppose:  None received







































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