BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1342
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
SB 1342 (Simitian) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 29-4
SUBJECT : Election precincts.
SUMMARY : Permits an elections official to subtract the number
of permanent vote by mail voters (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.
EXISTING LAW requires, whenever a jurisdiction is divided into
election precincts or whenever the boundary of an established
precinct is changed or a new precinct is created, the precinct
boundary 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
election.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Current law caps the number of registered voters in a
precinct at 1,000 without regard to the number of [PVBMVs]
in the precinct.
SB 1342 allows local election officials to adjust precinct
sizes to reflect the fact that some areas of a county have
high concentrations of [PVBMVs] and relatively few
"election day" polling place voters, while other areas of
the county have low concentrations of [PVBMVs] and
relatively more "election day" polling place voters. This
is a good government measure that aims to allocate election
day resources equitably and efficiently. . . .
Currently there are almost 6 million California voters
registered as [PVBMVs] (about 33% of the statewide total).
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This growing trend, and the wide variances of [PVBMVs] from
precinct to precinct, needs to be taken into account when
determining precinct size. Otherwise, long lines and
waiting periods exist in some polling places while other
polling places sit almost empty.
SB 1342 does not impose a mandate; it simply provides
counties with the flexibility to take into account the
rising numbers of [PVBMVs] in California when determining
polling place locations. Specifically, SB 1342 allows
local elections officials to consider the number of
[PVBMVs] on a precinct by precinct basis when establishing
election precincts, and then adjust the precincts to better
serve areas with a higher concentration of voters who
actually go to the polls and vote in person.
If there are two precincts right next to one another and
both are capped at 1,000 voters, yet one has 900 [PVBMVs]
and the other only has 100 [PVBMVs], locals should have the
ability to equalize and make adjustments, rather than be
forced to provide the same services on election day at both
places with limited resources.
2)Permanent Vote By Mail Voting : In the last decade, the number
of voters who are PVBMVs has increased significantly,
particularly since the enactment of AB 1520 (Shelley), Chapter
922, Statutes of 2001, which allowed any voter to become a
PVBMV. Whereas there were fewer than 300,000 PVBMVs in
November 2000 according to a report from the Secretary of
State, there are nearly 6 million PVBMVs now, about one-third
of all registered voters statewide.
While the total number of PVBMVs has increased significantly in
the last 10 years, the percentage of voters registered as
PVBMVs varies widely from county to county. In eight
counties, more than half of all registered voters are PVBMVs,
including two counties where more than 60 percent of
registered voters are PVBMVs. On the other hand, in two
counties, fewer than 15 percent of registered voters are
PVBMVs.
3)Shifting Precincts : Unlike some previous legislation dealing
with precinct size, the primary effect of this bill will not
be to reduce the number of precincts, but to shift precincts
within a county from areas with high concentrations of PVBMVs
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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. By allowing
counties to balance the number of voters that are expected to
be served by each individual polling place, this bill could
help ensure that voters in one part of a county are not
waiting in long lines to vote while other polling places in
the county remain relatively empty.
4)Previous Legislation : This bill is identical to SB 967
(Simitian) of 2008, which was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, though the Governor did not express any policy
objections to the bill. Instead, the Governor stated in his
veto message that due to the "historic delay in passing the
2008-2009 State Budget," he was "only signing bills that are
the highest priority for California," and that SB 967 "[did]
not meet that standard."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
League of Women Voters of California
San Diego County
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094