BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 346
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 346 (Atkins)
As Amended April 4, 2011
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Mendoza, Swanson | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Logue, Valadao |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires county elections officials to establish at
least one polling place on a University of California (UC),
California State University (CSU), or California Community
College (CCC) campus at every election conducted by the county.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires an elections official to designate a polling place
for each precinct at least 29 days prior to the election.
2)Provides that if a city or county elections official
specifically requests the use of a school building for polling
places on an election day, the governing body having
jurisdiction over the particular school building shall allow
its use for the purpose requested.
3)Requires elections officials, when designating polling places,
to undertake necessary measures to ensure that polling places
meet the guidelines promulgated by the Secretary of State
(SOS) for accessibility by the physically handicapped.
4)Requires the SOS to annually provide every high school,
community college, and CSU and UC campus with voter
registration forms.
AB 346
Page 2
5)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that every school do
all in its power to ensure that students are provided the
opportunity and means to register to vote.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are 40 counties in California with a UC, CSU,
and/or CCC campus. Assuming an average cost of $1,300 to
establish and operate a polling place, annual reimbursable
General Fund costs would be $52,000. Some counties currently
locate polling places on college campuses. The mandate in this
bill would require the state to reimburse counties for these
costs for one college within each county.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 346 ensures that
community resources such as Universities, Colleges, and
Community Colleges are utilized as polling locations. Placing
polling locations at known community locations not only benefits
the voting public but it further demonstrates the State's
commitment to ensuring that students have easy access to voting.
Current law establishes that registering students as voters is
a priority but it fails to deliver the one thing that students
need in order to vote - easy access to a polling location. AB
346 ensures that county registrars make sure students have
access to polling locations."
Current law provides elections officials discretion in
determining polling places, as long as the selected locations
meet specific requirements. However, given that elections
officials must comply with the Polling Place Accessibility
Guidelines developed by the SOS, locations that meet all of the
criteria are usually limited. Although existing law permits
elections official to locate polling places on college and
university campuses, and such campuses are likely to comply with
accessibility requirements, the use of college and university
campuses as polling places in the past has been limited.
County elections officials have claimed that the reason for not
utilizing campuses as polling places is a combination of a lack
of cooperation from the campuses as well as the potential for
voter confusion. Many students attending college away from home
are typically registered to vote in their home county, and not
the county in which they are attending school. As a result,
many students show up to the campus polling site with an intent
to vote and are turned away. The potential increase of
AB 346
Page 3
ineligible students at the campus polling place could cause
longer lines at the polls and distract poll workers from
assisting other voters who are assigned to that polling place
and wish to vote. However, it may be possible to minimize this
confusion with effective outreach efforts to inform students,
prior to an election, about registration and voting
requirements.
To the extent that this bill requires elections officials to
locate at least one polling place on a higher education campus,
this bill will also require the cooperation of higher education
campuses with elections officials to utilize the facilities and
set up the polling place. Although current law requires the
governing body having jurisdiction over a particular school
building to allow its use for polling places on an election day,
if a city or county elections official specifically requests it,
it is unclear whether this provision applies to community
colleges and the CSU.
In addition, Article IX, Section 9 of the California
Constitution establishes the UC as a public trust and confers
the full powers of the UC upon the UC Regents. The California
Constitution establishes that the UC is subject to legislative
control only to the degree necessary to ensure the security of
its funds and compliance with the terms of its endowments.
Judicial decisions have held that there are three additional
areas in which there may be limited legislative intrusion into
university operations: authority over the appropriation of
state moneys; exercise of the general police power to provide
for the public health, safety and welfare; and, legislation on
matters of general statewide concern not involving internal
university affairs. In light of the limited ability of the
Legislature to require the UC to make their facilities available
for use as polling places, county elections officials may be
limited in their ability to use UC campuses, and may have to
more heavily rely on community college and CSU campuses.
Analysis Prepared By : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000474
AB 346
Page 4