BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






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


          BILL NO:   SB 740                            HEARING DATE:   
           3/31/09
          AUTHOR:    CEDILLO                           ANALYSIS BY:    
             Darren Chesin
          AMENDED:   AS INTRODUCED 
          FISCAL:    YES
          
                                     SUBJECT
           
          Provisional ballots

                                   DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  provides that if a voter claims to be properly  
          registered to vote, but his or her eligibility to vote  
          cannot be established, the voter may cast a provisional  
          ballot.  Once voted, the provisional ballot is sealed in a  
          provisional ballot envelope and signed by the voter.   
          During the official canvass of election results the  
          elections official examines the records with respect to all  
          provisional ballots cast, and if the provisional voter's  
          eligibility to vote can be established, the envelope is  
          opened and the provisional ballot is counted.  As part of  
          this process, the signature on the envelope is compared  
          with the one on the voter's affidavit of registration, and  
          the ballot is rejected if the two signatures do not  
          compare.

           This bill  would additionally require that the provisional  
          ballot be rejected if the provisional ballot envelope is  
          not signed.

           Existing law  requires elections officials to retain  
          specified elections materials for a period of 22 months for  
          federal elections and six months for nonfederal elections,  
          as specified.  Materials required to be retained for these  
          periods include, but are not limited to:

           Voted polling place ballots.
           Paper record copies of voted polling place ballots cast  
            electronically.









           Voted mail ballots.
           Mail ballot identification envelopes. 
           Spoiled and canceled ballots.  
            Unused mail ballots surrendered by the voter.  
           
           This bill  would additionally require elections officials to  
          retain voted provisional ballots and provisional ballot  
          identification envelopes for the aforementioned time  
          periods. 



                                    BACKGROUND  
          
           Provisional Ballot Signatures  .  Although rare, provisional  
          ballot envelopes occasionally fail to include the signature  
          of the voter.  In such instances, there is no way to verify  
          that the voter on record actually cast the ballot.

           Retention of Election Materials  .  Elections officials are  
          required to retain voted ballots and other election  
          materials for specified time periods in the event that one  
          or more candidate races or measures becomes the subject of  
          an election contest.  In the event of an election contest,  
          it may be necessary for the court to examine these  
          materials in order to validate or overturn the certified  
          results of the election. 
            
                                    COMMENTS  
          
           1.According to the author  , this bill adds voted provisional  
            ballots and provisional ballot identification envelopes  
            to the list of items that must be kept by the elections  
            official for 22 months.  While this is a current practice  
            in most counties, it is important to clarify it in state  
            law.  This bill also clarifies that if a provisional  
            ballot envelope is not signed, elections officials must  
            reject the ballot.  This bill works to improve integrity  
            in our elections procedures.
           
                                   POSITIONS  

          Sponsor: Secretary of State

          SB 740 (CEDILLO)                                       Page  
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           Support: American Federation of State, County and  
                   Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

           Oppose:  None received






































          SB 740 (CEDILLO)                                       Page  
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