BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 503
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 503 (Block)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|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 |
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SUMMARY : Permits an elections official, upon the request of a
qualified write-in candidate, to hand tally the votes for the
write-in candidate, as specified, and to count each ballot if
the intent of the voter can be determined. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "undervote," for the purposes of this bill, as a
ballot on which a voter failed to cast any vote for a specific
office or failed to cast the maximum number of votes
permitted, as detected by an electronic, mechanical, or other
vote-tabulating device.
2)Permits an elections official, after tallying all eligible
votes but prior to completion of the official canvass and the
issuance of the certified statement of the results, to hand
tally undervotes if any of certain specified conditions apply.
3)Permits the elections official to stop the hand tally upon
determining that the conditions are no longer applicable or
when all of the undervotes for the office have been examined.
4)Permits the elections official, while conducting the hand
tally, to count each vote for the office if the intent of the
voter can be determined, regardless of whether the voter has
complied with the voting instructions.
AB 503
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5)Provides that the ability of the elections official to hand
tally undervotes only applies:
a) If a request is received within five days of completion
of the semi-official canvass from a qualified write-in
candidate for an office being voted on in that election for
an examination of undervotes; and,
b) In an election that was conducted using a voting system
in which write-in spaces appear directly below the list of
candidates for that office and provide a voting space.
6)Provides that a qualified write-in candidate is not
responsible for the costs of a hand tally requested pursuant
to this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 503 ensures that votes
for qualified write-in candidates will be counted in certain
circumstances if the intent of the voter can be determined, even
if the voter did not mark the bubble or similar voting space
next to the write-in space on the ballot."
The premise for this bill stems out a local race in the City of
San Diego during the November 2004 general election. When the
official canvass of election results was completed, Donna Frye,
a qualified write-in candidate for mayor, showed to have
finished second to incumbent mayor Dick Murphy by 2,108 votes.
A recount, requested by five media organizations and two Frye
supporters, uncovered a total of 5,551 ballots in which a voter
wrote-in Frye's name on the ballot in the correct location, but
did not darken the oval next to the write-in space. Had those
ballots been counted for Frye, she would have won the election
by 3,443 votes. However, the Registrar of Voters in San Diego
County refused to count those votes, citing state law that
requires the oval to be darkened in order for a write-in vote to
count. A subsequent lawsuit challenging the registrar's
decision was rejected by the court.
This bill permits an elections official, upon making a specific
finding and at the request of a qualified write-in candidate, to
hand tally the votes for the write-in candidate for that office,
AB 503
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and to count each vote for the office if the intent of the voter
can be determined, regardless of whether the voter has complied
with the voting instructions.
Current law allows any person to request a manual recount after
the results of an election have been certified. The cost of the
manual recount is the responsibility of the requestor, unless
the recount changes the outcome of the election. This bill
provides that a qualified write-in candidate is not responsible
for the costs of the hand tally, regardless of the outcome of
the hand tally. However, the circumstances in which this bill
would be applicable are limited to situations where the
elections official chooses to conduct the hand-tally, as
described above, and if the number of undervotes is significant
enough to potentially change the outcome.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Maria Garcia / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000950