BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 503|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 503
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 5/27/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/21/11
AYES: Correa, De Le�n, Lieu
NOES: La Malfa, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-23, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Processing write-in votes
SOURCE : Secretary of State
DIGEST : This bill requires an elections official, upon
the request of a qualified write-in candidate, to hand
tally the votes for the write-in candidate, as specified.
If an elections official conducts a hand tally, this bill
requires the elections official to include the results in
the official canvass of the election.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides every voter the right to
write the name of any candidate for any public office on
the ballot of any election. Existing law provides, for
voting systems in which write-in spaces appear directly
below the list of candidates for that office and provide a
voting space, no write-in vote shall be counted unless the
voting space next to the write-in space is marked or
slotted as directed in the voting instructions. Existing
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law provides for voting systems in which write-in spaces
appear separately from the list of candidates for that
office and do not provide a voting space, the name of the
write-in candidate, if otherwise qualified, shall be
counted if it is written in a manner described in the
voting instructions.
This bill permits the elections official to stop the hand
tally when the official determines that the conditions set
forth above are no longer applicable, or when all of the
undervotes for the office have been examined.
This bill requires 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.
This bill requires the elections official to include the
results of the hand tally in the official canvass of the
election.
This bill provides that the requirement of the elections
official to hand tally undervotes only applies 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.
After tallying all eligible votes but prior to completion
of the official canvass and the issuance of the certified
statement of the results, this bill provides that the
elections official may hand tally the remaining undervotes,
if a request for examination of undervotes 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 if any of the following is
applicable:
1. In the case of a primary election or a special
election, the sum of the total number of votes cast for
the write-in candidate and the total number of
undervotes cast for the office but not examined pursuant
to a hand tally is equal to or greater than the total
number of votes cast for the candidate receiving the
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second highest number of voters for that office.
2. In the case of a general election or special runoff
election, the sum of the total number of votes cast for
the write-in candidate and the total number of
undervotes cast for the office but not examined pursuant
to a hand tally is equal to or greater than the total
number of votes cast for the candidate receiving the
highest number of votes for that office.
3. In the case of an office for which a voter may vote
for more than one candidate, the sum of the total number
of votes cast for the write-in candidate and the total
number of undervotes cast for the office but not
examined pursuant to a hand tally is equal to or greater
than the total number of votes cast for the candidate
receiving the least number of votes that would be
sufficient in order to be elected.
This bill 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.
This bill provides that a qualified write-in candidate is
not responsible for the costs of a hand tally requested
pursuant to this bill.
This bill does not prohibit a request for a recount.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 461 (Bonilla), 2011-12 Session, provides that during a
recount, a valid- write-in vote will be counted whether or
not the voter filled in the corresponding "bubble". (AB
461 is on the Senate Floor)
SB 439 (Calderon), 2007-08 Session, would have required, in
the event of a manual recount, provisions of law governing
the counting of write-in votes to be liberally construed to
ensure that each ballot is counted if the intent of the
voter can be determined, regardless of whether the voter
had literally complied with the voting instructions. SB
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439 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who stated in
relevant part: "The bill does not specify how the voter's
intent could be determined. If enacted this bill would
introduce subjectivity into the electoral process without
providing any direction or guidance to the elections
officials?Requiring that a voter fill in the corresponding
bubble for a write-in candidate is necessary for the
efficient administration of the vote count, and imposes a
very small burden on a voter."
SB 1050 (Bowen), 2005-06 Session, would have required a
hand tally of all ballots at the request of a write-in
candidate, if specified conditions were met. SB 1050 was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who stated in his veto
message: "This process will expand the number of manual
hand recounts, which will lead to an unnecessary delay in
completing the canvass and certifying election results. It
will require county elections officials to review every
mark on ballots even in situations where it is virtually
impossible for the candidate challenging the vote to
prevail."
AB 43 (Vargas), 2005-06 Session, which was substantially
similar to SB 439, was approved by the Assembly, but was
never heard in the Senate Elections and Constitutional
Amendments Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/22/11)
Secretary of State (source)
California Aware
California Common Cause
California National Organization for Women
Environmental Health Coalition
League of Women Voters of California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/22/11)
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
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"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. By law, voters
are permitted to write in the name of a candidate they
wish to vote for if they do not want to vote for a
candidate listed on the ballot. However, for voting
systems in which write-in spaces appear below a list of
candidates and include a bubble or similar voting space,
state law requires the voter to perform the additional
step of marking that bubble or voting space. This bill
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 voting space next to the write-in space on
a ballot. The provisions of this bill would only be in
effect when the number of ballots where no vote for a
particular office was recorded during the electronic
tabulation process combined with the tallied votes for
the write-in candidate could mathematically change the
outcome of that election. This measure will ensure that
the intent of voters, who write-in candidates, is carried
out when their vote could change the outcome of the
election."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Association of
Clerks and Election Officials indicates, "The request is
submitted after the elections official has completed
tallying all eligible votes, however, prior to completing
all required steps of the official 28-day canvass
certifying the election. Recent trends reflect an increase
in the number of vote by mail voters who wait until
Election Day to return their ballot. Election officials
are spending more time processing ballots after Election
Day, using a major portion of the 28-day canvass that is
necessary to finalize other mandated requirements of the
official canvass, including the 1% manual tally of paper
and 100% tally of electronic votes. Larger counties will
be unable to determine whether a request for recount of
undervotes is acceptable as they will still be processing
vote by mail and provisional ballots. The April 12, 2011
Assembly Analysis acknowledges the pressure to expedite the
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canvass this bill will put on election officials, risking
the accuracy and integrity of the election results when
additional processes must be completed within the same
deadlines."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-23, 6/1/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall,
Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Norby, Pan, Perea, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jones,
Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Garrick, Gorell, Jeffries, V. Manuel
P�rez
DLW:kc 6/23/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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