BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 145
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 145 (Pan)
As Amended August 20, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 3, 2011) |SENATE: |25-13|(August 28, 2012) |
| | | | | | |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |5-2 |(August 29, 2012) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(E. & R.) | | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Prohibits a person from paying another person or
receiving payment for registering voters if that payment is on a
per-affidavit basis.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill, and
instead:
1)Prohibit a person from offering to pay or paying money or other
valuable consideration to another person, either directly or
indirectly, on a per-affidavit basis to assist another person to
register to vote by receiving the completed affidavit of
registration.
2)Prohibit a person from receiving money or other valuable
consideration, either directly or indirectly, on a per-affidavit
basis to assist another person to register to vote by receiving
the completed affidavit of registration.
3)Provide that nothing in this bill shall be construed to prohibit
payment for assisting another person to register to vote by
receiving the completed affidavit that is not, either directly or
indirectly, on a per-affidavit basis.
4)Make corresponding and technical changes.
AB 145
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AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill repealed and recast provisions
establishing the High-Speed Rail Authority and established the
Department of High-Speed Trains.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : While some voter registration drives pay employees on an
hourly or salaried basis, other voter registration drives pay
workers a specified amount of money for each completed voter
registration card. In some cases, voter registration drives that
pay workers on a per-registration basis only pay workers for voters
who register with a specific political party, or pay the workers a
larger amount of money for voters who register with a specific
political party. While these per-registration payments may create
incentives to register voters with a particular political party,
they also may create financial incentives for the individuals who
are registering voters to commit fraud.
In each of the last four election cycles, complaints have been
filed by voters who said they were misled into changing their party
affiliations. According to media reports of these complaints, the
voter registration workers who were accused of misleading these
voters were paid as much as $15 for each new voter that the worker
registered with a particular political party.
In 2006, complaints were reported in Orange, Riverside, and San
Bernardino Counties. According to the Orange County Register, 11
individuals were eventually convicted of falsifying voter
registrations and other charges in connection with the complaints
in Orange County, and eight of those 11 served jail time. In 2008,
press reports focused on similar complaints in Los Angeles,
Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties, while in 2010,
complaints were filed in Orange and Sacramento Counties. In 2012,
complaints were reported once again in Sacramento County. In every
instance, media reports of the complaints indicated that the firms
that were conducting the voter registration drives or the
individuals who were registering voters as part of those drives
were being paid on a per-registration basis.
This bill is similar to SB 205 (Correa) of 2011, which was vetoed
by the Governor. In his veto message, Governor Brown wrote, "I
understand the author's desire to stop fraudulent voter
registration. But I don't believe this bill - which makes it a
crime to pay people for registering voters based on the number of
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registrations they secure - will help. Voting is at the heart of
our democracy. Efforts to register voters should be encouraged, not
criminalized."
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted. As a
result, this bill was re-referred to the Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, and the
committee subsequently recommended that the Assembly concur in the
Senate amendments to this bill.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
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