BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1805
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Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1805 (Huffman) - As Amended: May 1, 2012
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:4-0
Local Government 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill establishes policies and procedures for military and
overseas voters in compliance with the federal Military and
Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act and consistent with the
Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA) adopted by the
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws,
including:
1)Replacing the term "special absentee voter" with "military or
overseas voter."
2)Expanding the definition of those now considered "military or
overseas voter" to allow individuals who are not residents of
California to vote in California elections if one of the
following scenarios applies: 1) the person was a resident of
California when he or she was last living within the U.S., or
2) he or she was born outside the U.S., his or her parent or
guardian was a resident of California when last living within
the U.S., and he or she has not previously registered to vote
in any other state.
3)Requiring elections officials to accept a federal postcard
application from a military or overseas voter as a valid
affidavit for voter registration in California.
4)Requiring every elections official to allow a military or
overseas voter to electronically request and receive a vote by
mail application, an unvoted ballot, and other relevant
information.
5)Requiring the Secretary of State (SOS) to make available to
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military and overseas voters procedures regarding voter
registration and casting ballots, and to develop standardized
military or overseas voter voting materials as required.
6)Allowing a military or overseas voter to use a federal
write-in ballot as an alternative to a state ballot.
7)Requiring elections officials to transmit balloting materials
to each military and overseas voter not later than 60 days
before each election.
8)Requiring elections officials to request an electronic mail
address from each military or overseas voter, who then may
request electronic delivery of a ballot for all elections held
through December 31 of the year following the year of their
registration, or a shorter time period if specified by the
voter.
9)Requiring elections officials to implement an electronic
access system whereby a military or overseas voter may
determine by telephone, electronic mail, or the Internet
whether their ballot has been received.
10)Requiring elections officials to publish on their website a
list of all ballot measures and federal, state, and local
offices expected to be on the ballot, in addition to
instructions for how a voter is to indicate on a federal
write-in ballot the voter's choice for each ballot measure and
elective office.
FISCAL EFFECT
Costs for counties to meet new requirements beyond those already
required under federal law would be state reimbursable. The
statewide costs are unknown, but would likely exceed $150,000
per year. Costs would include: an increased number of military
and overseas voters due to the expanded definition; acquiring
place-of-birth information from registrants who use the federal
application instead of the state registration form; requesting
email addresses for registrants; and sending ballot materials 60
days before each election, as sample ballot booklets are
currently sent 45 days before each election, thus requiring two
separate transmittals. One county, San Diego, indicates it has
between 4,000 and 10,000 overseas voters, depending on the
election.
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Any costs to the SOS would be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS
1)Background . In October 2009, President Obama signed the
Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act to expand
the 1986 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act
(UOCAVA), which was established to protect the rights of
service members to vote in federal elections regardless of
where they are stationed. The MOVE Act builds on UOCAVA to
provide greater protections for service members, their
families, and other overseas citizens.
In 2010, the national Uniform Law Commission promulgated the
Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA) to extend to
state elections the assistance and protections for military
and overseas voters found in the federal law. It seeks greater
harmony for the military and overseas voting process for all
covered elections, over which the states will continue to have
primary administrative responsibility.
2)Purpose . According to the author: "?AB 1805 expands the voting
rights of military and overseas voters to include state and
local elections. This bill will change the terminology from
"special absentee voter" to military or overseas voter." This
bill provides procedures for military and overseas voters to
register to vote, apply for voting ballots, receive voter
information, and cast votes. "
The provisions of the MOVE Act have been in effect since the
November 2010 election. However, given that California law
already included provisions to facilitate voting by military
members and other California residents who are outside of the
US, and in some cases even exceeds the federal requirements,
the SOS's office and local elections officials only had to
make minimal adjustments to their practices in order to be in
compliance.
Conforming to the UMOVA places additional duties on the SOS
and elections officials, as described in the summary above.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
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