BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






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


          BILL NO:   SB 1342             HEARING DATE:4/20/10
          AUTHOR:    SIMITIAN            ANALYSIS BY:Frances Tibon  
          Estoista
          AMENDED:   AS INTRODUCED
          FISCAL:    NO
          
                                     SUBJECT
           
          Election precincts
                                   DESCRIPTION  
          
           Existing law  requires the boundaries of an election  
          precinct to be fixed in a manner so that the number of  
          voters in the precinct does not exceed 1,000 on the 88th  
          day prior to the day of an election.

           Existing law  permits any registered voter to apply to  
          become a permanent vote by mail voter (PVBMV) wherein he or  
          she will automatically receive a vote by mail ballot for  
          all elections.
           
          This bill  would allow elections officials to subtract the  
          number of PVBMVs from the total number of voters when  
          creating precincts provided that the number of voters in  
          the precinct does not exceed the percentage of non-PVBMVs  
          in the jurisdiction on the 88th day prior to the election  
          multiplied by 1,000.

                                    BACKGROUND  
          
          The trend toward PVBMVs is growing particularly since the  
          enactment of AB 120 (Shelley), Chapter 922, Statutes of  
          2001, which allowed any voter to become a PVBMV.  According  
          to data provided by the Secretary of State, there were  
          almost 6 million (or 41.6%) votes cast in the 2008 General  
          Election by voters registered as PVBMVs - a number that  
          continues to rise.
           
                                    COMMENTS  
          
            1. According to the author  , "SB 1342 allows counties to  









             move polling places from areas of the county with high  
             concentrations of PVBMVs and few polling place voters  
             into areas of the county with low concentrations of  
             PVBMVs and relatively more polling place voters.  This  
             is a good government measure that aims to give people  
             easier access to the voting process.  SB 1342 does not  
             mandate anything; it simply provides counties some  
             flexibility to take into account the rising numbers of  
             permanent vote by mail voters in California when  
             determining polling place locations."  
            2. Shifting Precincts  .  Unlike previous legislation  
             dealing with precinct size, this bill is intended to  
             ensure that counties don't have empty polling places in  
             one part of town while voters are waiting in long lines  
             in another part of town.  The primary effect of which  
             will be not to reduce the number of precincts, but to  
             shift precincts within a county from areas with high  
             concentrations of PVBMVs to areas with lower  
             concentrations of PVBMVs, and thus to roughly equalize  
             the number of polling place voters that are served by  
             each polling place within a county.

            3. Prior and related legislation  :  SB 967 (Simitian) 2008  
             was an identical measure but ended up being vetoed by  
             the Governor who stated that due to the historic delay  
             in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget, only bills of the  
             highest priority would be signed.

           AB 984 (Price) as introduced in 2007, was related to this  
             bill in that it would allow elections officials to  
             subtract PVBMVs from the total number of voters in  
             specified circumstances when forming or changing  
             precinct boundaries prior to an election.  AB 984 was  
             held under submission on the Senate Appropriations  
             Suspense File.

                                    POSITIONS  
          
          Sponsor: Author

           Support: League of Women Voters
                    Sonoma County Board of Supervisors

           Oppose:  None received
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