BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 562|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 562
Author: Fong (D)
Amended: 8/29/12 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT : Vote by mail ballots and election result
statements
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the elections official to
submit the certified statement of the results of the
election to the governing body within 31 days of the
election.
ANALYSIS : Existing law makes the vote by mail ballot
available to any registered voter. Existing law requires
that those vote by mail ballots be received by the
elections officials from whom they were obtained or by the
precinct boards before the polls close on election day in
order to be counted.
Existing law authorizes certain local, special, or
consolidated elections to be conducted wholly by mail, so
long as specified conditions are satisfied. Existing law
requires ballots cast in these vote by mail elections to be
returned to the elections official from whom they were
obtained no later than 8 p.m. on election day.
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This bill provides that any vote by mail ballot is timely
cast if it is received by the voter's elections official no
later than 3 days after election day, and either the ballot
is postmarked on or before election day or, if the ballot
has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or an illegible
postmark, the vote by mail ballot identification envelope
is signed and dated on or before election day.
Existing law requires the elections official to prepare a
certified statement of the results of the election and
submit it to the governing body within 28 days of the
election, except for specified elections.
This bill requires the elections official to submit the
certified statement of the results of the election to the
governing body within 31 days of the election.
The Legislature's findings and declaration state the
following:
1. In an effort to decrease its costs, the United States
Postal Service has started implementing a plan to
significantly consolidate the postal network's
facilities, including closing more than 200 mail
processing facilities nationwide.
2. As a result of the United States Postal Service
consolidation plan, six mail processing facilities in
California have been closed since the last statewide
general election, and two more are scheduled to close
before the November 6, 2012, statewide general election.
3. Even though the United States Postal Service has stated
that the closure of mail processing facilities will not
adversely affect the voting process, election officials
from counties that were previously served by the closed
facilities have indicated that recent closures have
resulted in considerable delays in mail delivery, with
some deliveries taking up to five to seven days, as
opposed to the usual delivery time of one to three days.
4. California voters are choosing to vote by mail in
increasing numbers, with more than 5.7 million
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Californians choosing to cast their ballots by mail in
the last presidential election.
5. According to the United States Election Assistance
Commission, about 26,000 mailed ballots arrived too late
to be counted in California's November 2, 2010,
statewide general election, which occurred before the
closure of any major mail processing facilities.
6. Due to the mail processing facility closures, voters who
mail their ballots within a reasonable timeframe could,
through no fault of their own, find themselves
disenfranchised due to the delays in mail delivery.
7. Given the negative impacts that recent smaller scale
disruptions have had on non-presidential elections, it
is realistic to anticipate, and it is necessary to take
proactive steps to prepare for, larger scale disruptions
for the upcoming presidential election on November 6,
2012.
8. Allowing ballots that are postmarked or signed and dated
by election day to be counted, as long as those ballots
are received by the elections official by the third day
after the election, will help mitigate against potential
voter disenfranchisement.
This bill is similar to SB 348 (Correa) which was held in
the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
DLW:m 8/31/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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