BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 970|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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|327-4478 | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 970
Author: Corbett (D), et al
Amended: 8/20/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM : 3-2, 4/6/10
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Denham, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE FLOOR : 22-13, 6/2/10
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
DeSaulnier, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Oropeza, Wiggins, Vacancy,
Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-28, 8/23/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vote by mail voting
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill permits vote by mail ballot dropoff
locations to be established on three college campuses in
the state, subject to certain conditions.
Assembly Amendments narrow the bill to vote by mail ballot
dropoff instead of preelection day voting process.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally requires voters who
wish to vote and who do not cast their ballots by mail, to
cast their ballot at the precinct polling place on election
day.
This bill:
1.Permits the Secretary of State (SOS), in conjunction with
county elections officials, the University of California,
the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges to establish vote by mail (VBM) ballot
dropoff locations on three college campuses in the state
for at least one general election held between January 1,
2011 and December 31, 2016. Requires one of the college
campuses to be a campus within the University of
California system with at least 20,000 registered
students, one of the college campuses to be a campus
within the California State University system with at
least 13,000 registered students, and one of the college
campuses to be a campus within the California Community
College system with at least 10,000 registered students.
2.Requires a VBM ballot dropoff location established
pursuant to this bill to be available during the five
business days prior to the date of the election
3.Requires a VBM ballot dropoff location established
pursuant to this bill to be placed in a secure location
that is centrally located on the campus, and requires the
county elections official to retrieve any ballots
returned to the dropoff location nightly.
4.Requires the SOS to provide implementation instructions
to counties that provide VBM dropoff locations pursuant
to this bill to address ballot security and assurances
that the drop off location shall be utilized solely by
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eligible voters in the participating county.
5.Requires each county elections official who has a VBM
ballot dropoff location within his or her jurisdiction
pursuant to this bill to report to the Legislature and
the SOS regarding the election within six months after
the date of the election. Requires the report to include
statistics regarding the cost of the VBM ballot dropoff
location, the number of ballots returned to the dropoff
location, and any problems with the dropoff location that
have been made known to the elections official. Requires
the SOS to report to the Legislature regarding an
assessment of early voting on college campuses.
6.Contains a December 31, 2016 sunset date.
Comments
According to the author's office, "SB 970 expands
accessibility for the electorate. Students, who often may
register for the first time with their college campus
address or who may have re-registered as a part of a voter
registration drive, will now have access to a [VBM ballot
dropoff location] over 5 days before an election. New
students who participate re-register to vote with their new
campus address, often encouraged by student associations on
campus, may find polling places unfamiliar."
Related legislation
AB 3024 (Wolk) of 2006 would have authorized Solano County
to conduct a pilot project whereby the county elections
official would establish vote centers in lieu of polling
places in each precinct. The Governor vetoed AB 3024
stating:
While the vote center system may offer some advantages
over the current precinct-based voting system, the
proposed pilot project would reduce the number of
voting locations by 80 percent, and thereby
significantly increase the distance that voters would
have to travel in order to vote. This burden would
fall disproportionately on those who are less mobile,
frequently the poor, disabled, and elderly.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/10)
Associated Students of San Diego State University
California Common Cause
California State Student Association
California Teachers Association
City of Berkeley
California Young Democrats
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
New America Foundation
OCA Orange County
San Francisco Young Democrats
United Auto Workers, Local 2865
University of California
University of California Student Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/24/10)
Department of Finance
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, De La Torre, De Leon,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Gatto, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A.
Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber, Jeffries, Knight, Logue,
Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Davis, Furutani, Vacancy, Vacancy
DLW:nl 8/24/10 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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