BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1140
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
SB 1140 (Yee) - As Amended: June 1, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 22-12
SUBJECT : Voter registration: one-stop voting.
SUMMARY : Allows a person to register to vote and vote in the
office of the county elections official at any time up to and
including election day once the state has deployed a new
statewide voter registration database. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a county elections official to accept an affidavit of
voter registration at all times. Provides that, except for a
mailed affidavit or an affidavit submitted to the Department
of Motor Vehicles (DMV) or other public agency designated as a
voter registration agency in accordance with the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), an affidavit is valid
if delivered to the elections official before the close of
polls on election day.
2)Permits a person who is otherwise qualified to vote to
register or reregister to vote at a one-stop voting site and
immediately thereafter to cast a ballot on the day of an
election or at any time during which ballots may be cast prior
to the election pursuant to existing law. Provides that
"one-stop" voting is subject to the following conditions:
a) Requires an elector who wishes to register to vote at a
one-stop voting site to comply with the following:
i) Requires the elector to visit, on election day or at
any time during which ballots may be cast, a location at
which the county elections official has made one-stop
voting available.
ii) Requires the elector to present proof of identity
and proof of current residence.
iii) Requires the elector to complete an affidavit of
registration.
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b) Provides that, for the purposes of this bill, proof of
identity and proof of current residence shall consist of
one of the following:
i) A photo identification with a current name and
address, including a driver's license or state
identification card, a passport, a military
identification card, or a photo identification card
designated by the Secretary of State (SOS) in regulations
previously adopted to specify standards for proof of
identity or residence when proof is required by the Help
America Vote Act (HAVA); or,
ii) A photo identification from the list above that does
not have a current address, along with a document that
includes the name and current address of the individual
presenting it and dated since the time of the last
statewide general election, unless the document is
intended to be a permanent, one-time government document.
Provides that the document containing the name and
current address of the individual shall be a proof of
residence document designated by the SOS in regulations
previously adopted to specify standards for proof of
residence under HAVA.
c) Requires county elections officials to accept the
following as the elector's proof of identity for the
purposes of this bill if the information can be
successfully validated by VoteCal (a statewide voter
registration database currently under development):
i) The elector's name;
ii) The elector's date of birth; and,
iii) Either the elector's driver's license number or the
last four digits of the elector's social security number.
d) Provides that every elector who appears to vote at a
one-stop voting location and who provides proof of identity
and current residence shall be able to vote by regular
ballot if the elector's personal information has been
validated by VoteCal. Provides that the elector shall vote
by provisional ballot if his or her personal information
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has not been validated by VoteCal, and provides that such
provisional ballots shall be counted only if the elector's
voter registration is processed and verified in accordance
with existing law.
3)Requires each county elections official to compile an index of
voters who registered to vote for an election using "one-stop"
voting. Requires the elections official to review this index
after the official canvass of the votes for the election is
complete and to cancel any duplicate voter registrations that
exist.
4)Requires each county elections official to send a voter
notification form to each person who registered to vote for an
election using "one-stop" voting.
5)Requires an elections official to notify the SOS and the
district attorney immediately if it appears that any voter who
registered to vote using one-stop voting may have committed
fraud.
6)Requires "one-stop" voting to be available at every permanent
office of a county elections official beginning on January 1
of the year following the availability of the statewide voter
registration database required by the HAVA.
7)Requires each location at which one-stop voting is available
to have a separate area dedicated to one-stop voting.
Requires at least one precinct board member at each such
location to be trained prior to the election in one-stop
voting procedures and assigned to conduct one-stop voting.
Requires one-stop voting to be conducted in a manner that does
not interfere with or delay voting by persons previously
registered to vote.
8)Permits the SOS to adopt regulations to ensure the uniform
application of this bill.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows individuals who are eligible to vote to execute an
affidavit of voter registration up to 15 days prior to an
election.
2)Specifies that in order to be eligible to vote, an individual
must be a United States citizen, a resident of California, not
in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, not
deemed mentally incompetent, and at least 18 years of age at
the time of the next election.
3)Requires the voter to mail or deliver the affidavit to the
county elections official, or submit it to the DMV or any
other public agency designated as a voter registration agency
in accordance with the NVRA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
It is a fundamental principle of the United States that the
people should have access to our systems of democracy.
However, the voter registration process is often a barrier
to participation.
California currently ranks 41st out of 50 states in voter
turnout. Research has shown that election-day registration
can boost voter turnout considerably-up to 7 percentage
points.
SB 1140 deletes the arbitrary timelines which prevent
eligible citizens from voting in elections. This is a
modest bill that will allow eligible citizens to register
and vote on Election Day at one site per county.
SB 1140 will be phased-in in coordination with the
introduction of VoteCal, a statewide online database of all
registered voters, which will allow counties to verify new
voters by accessing a real-time database of voters.
Eight other states are already allowing citizens to vote
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without pre-registration. Six states have successfully
used election-day registration for years, and have
increased their voter turnout. In one state, during the
early voting period you can register and vote at any
polling site, and another state requires no registration at
all.
2)Suggested Amendments : The author's office has indicated that
it is the author's intent that the provisions of this bill not
go into effect until the state's VoteCal statewide voter
registration database is operational. However, as currently
drafted, certain provisions of this bill would go into effect
without regard to whether VoteCal had been deployed in
California.
To ensure that this bill appropriately reflects the author's
intent, committee staff recommends the following amendments:
Section 2 of the bill, amending Section 2107 of the Elections
Code, is amended as follows:
2107. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) and (c), the The
county elections official shall accept affidavits of
registration at all times except during the 14 days
immediately preceding any election, when registration shall
cease for that election as to electors residing in the
territory within which the election is to be held . Transfers
of registration for an election may be made from one precinct
to another precinct in the same county at any time when
registration is in progress in the precinct to which the
elector seeks to transfer before the close of the polls on
election day .
(b) The county elections official shall accept an affidavit
of registration executed as part of a voter registration card
in the forthcoming election if the affidavit is executed on or
before the 15th day prior to the election, and if any of the
following apply:
(1) A mailed affidavit is postmarked on or before the 15th
day prior to the election and received by mail by the county
elections official before the close of the polls on election
day.
(2) The affidavit is submitted to the Department of Motor
Vehicles or accepted by any other public agency designated as
a voter registration agency pursuant to the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973gg) not later
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than the 15th day prior to the election.
(3) The affidavit is delivered to the county elections
official by means other than those described in paragraphs (1)
and (2) on or before the 15th day prior to the election close
of the polls on election day .
(c) The county elections official shall accept an affidavit
of registration that meets the requirements of Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 2170) at any time before the close of
polls on election day .
On page 8 of the bill, between lines 4 and 5, the following
language is added:
2177. This article shall become operative on January 1 of
the year following the date when, as determined by the
Secretary of State, VoteCal, the statewide voter registration
database, is implemented.
3)VoteCal Status : As noted above, most of the provisions of
this bill are contingent on the implementation VoteCal.
VoteCal is the name that the SOS has given to California's
federally-mandated statewide voter registration database that
is being developed. HAVA, enacted in the wake of the 2000
Presidential election, requires every state to have an
interactive computerized statewide voter registration
database, among other provisions. HAVA also provided federal
funding to assist in states' compliance with its requirements.
Last September, the SOS executed a contract with Catalyst
Consulting Group to develop the VoteCal system, and VoteCal
development commenced shortly thereafter with an estimated
completion date of late-2011 or early-2012. However, due to a
number of factors, the SOS and Catalyst Consulting Group
mutually agreed to cancel the contract for the development of
VoteCal last month. As a result, the contract for the
development of VoteCal will have to be re-bid, and it is
unclear when VoteCal will be completed and deployed.
Given the uncertainty over the timeline for VoteCal to be
deployed, and given the fact that the technical specifications
for the development of VoteCal could change when the contract
for the development is re-bid, the committee may wish to
consider whether it is premature to act on legislation that is
contingent on the development of that system.
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4)Election Day Registration in Other States : The following
states have some form of election day voter registration:
Connecticut (for presidential elections only), Idaho, Iowa,
Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina,
Wisconsin and Wyoming. North Dakota has no voter registration
requirement at all.
According to a study conducted by Dr. Michael McDonald,
Associate Professor at George Mason University, for the United
States Elections Project, nationwide turnout in the 2008
General Election among the voting-eligible population (VEP)
was 61.7% which was identical to turnout among the VEP in
California for that election. Among the states that have some
form of Election Day voter registration, turnout among the VEP
for that election ranged from a low of 63.4% in Iowa to a high
of 78.1% in Minnesota with an overall average of 68.7%.
5)Proposition 52 : In November 2002, voters rejected Proposition
52 which would have allowed any eligible person with proper
identification and proof of residency to register to vote at
any polling place on election day. The measure failed,
garnering 40.9 percent of the vote statewide.
6)Arguments in Support : According to the League of Women Voters
of California:
SB 1140 would open up our registration process, which often
presents a barrier to eligible voters. For example,
one-stop voting would benefit people who move to a
different country or who develop an interest in the
election up to and including election day. It requires
that the applicant show a photo ID when registering as well
as proof of current residence. If proof of both
identification and residence is presented, then the person
may vote a regular ballot. Allowing the use of a regular
ballot at official election office sites is an excellent
provision, as it actually reduces the burden on elections
officials and gives confidence to the voter that his or her
vote will be counted. If the registrant cannot produce
both proof of identity and of current address, then he or
she may cast a [provisional] ballot and the ballot can be
counted after the elections office has verified the
information provided.
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7)Concerns Expressed : While not taking an official position,
the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
(CACEO) has raised a number of concerns with this bill. Among
other concerns, CACEO indicates that elections officials would
have no way to prevent a voter from voting twice-once at the
polling place on election day and once at a one-stop
location-without the use of electronic poll books, which would
be costly and would not be feasible to have at polling places.
Additionally, CACEO expresses concerns that crowds of
potential voters could overwhelm election offices, and that
the lack of a current method to issue "regular" ballots in the
office of county elections officials could hamper officials'
ability to reconcile the ballots that were issued with the
ballots that were voted, thereby jeopardizing election
results.
8)Arguments in Opposition : According to the Howard Jarvis
Taxpayers Association:
Cost and fraud are among our major concerns with this bill.
We believe the costs that will be placed on County
Registrar of Voter offices will be substantial. They will
likely have to hire more staff or recruit volunteers to
handle the longer lines at the polls.
Allowing people to vote the day of an election also greatly
increases the likelihood of fraud. What is to stop voters
from coming in from out of state to cast a ballot, or even
multiple ballots? Same day registration also raises the
specter of certain precincts being overrun by individuals
claiming a right to vote in numbers far in excess [than]
can be handle[d] by the precinct volunteers. The current
two week registration period is already short enough.
Anything less jeopardizes the integrity of the voting
process.
9)Related Legislation : AB 1531 (Portantino) permits a qualified
elector to register to vote and vote at the office of the
elections official in the last 14 days before an election or
at the polling place on election day. AB 1531 is scheduled to
be heard in the Senate Elections, Reapportionment, and
Constitutional Amendments Committee on June 29, 2010. When it
was approved by the Assembly last year, AB 1531 dealt with
state contracting, and as such the current provisions of that
bill have not been considered by this committee.
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10)Previous Legislation : AB 355 (Price) of 2007 would have
permitted a qualified elector to register to vote and vote at
the polling place on election day. AB 355 was approved by
this committee, but was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Committee's suspense file. AB 2772 (Nation) of 2006, which
was similar to AB 355, was referred to this committee, but was
never heard in committee.
AB 526 (Chan) of 2003, which was vetoed by Governor Davis, would
have allowed Alameda County to establish a pilot program to
allow voters to register and vote during the 14-day period up
to and including election day at locations designated by the
elections official. In his veto message, Governor Davis
stated that he had "concerns that same day registration will
lead to logistical problems and overall confusion at the polls
on election day."
AB 1094 (Hertzberg), Chapter 899, Statutes of 2000, originally
contained provisions for election-day registration statewide.
The bill was eventually amended to delete those provisions and
instead reduced the voter registration deadline from 29 days
to 14 days before an election.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Common Cause (sponsor)
American Civil Liberties Union
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
California Labor Federation
California Teachers Association
Disability Rights California
Greenlining Institute
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center
Korean Resource Center
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of Women Voters of California
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
(NAKASEC)
New America Foundation
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094