BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 35|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 35
Author: Padilla (D)
Amended: 8/23/12
Vote: 21
PRIOR SENATE VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS COMMITTEE :
3-2, 8/30/12 (pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: Correa, Lieu, Yee
NOES: La Malfa, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-27, 8/27/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Voter registration agencies
SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union
DIGEST : This bill adds the California Health Benefit
Exchange to the list of public assistance agencies required
by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to
provide voter registration opportunities and codifies
various other provisions of the NVRA.
Assembly Amendments delete the Senate version of the bill
relating to energy, and replace it with the above language.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the federal National Voter
Registration Act of 1993, requires each state to establish
procedures to register voters by application in person at
CONTINUED
SB 35
Page
2
certain federal, state, or nongovernmental agencies
designated by state law as voter registration agencies.
Existing law also requires the Secretary of State (SOS), in
consultation with county elections officials, to design and
make available on his/her Internet Web site an affidavit of
voter registration. Existing law, the federal NVRA,
provides for state departments of motor vehicles to make
voter registration information and materials available to
an applicant for a driver's license and other vehicular
documents. Existing state law provides that a person who
is qualified to register to vote and who has a valid
California driver's license or state identification card
may submit an affidavit of voter registration
electronically on the Internet Web site of the SOS.
Existing state law requires the Department of Motor
Vehicles and the SOS to develop a process and the
infrastructure to allow a person who is qualified to
register to vote in the state to register to vote online.
This bill:
1. Defines, for the purposes of this bill, the terms "voter
preference form" and "voter registration agency."
2. Requires the SOS to adopt regulations necessary to
implement the provisions of this bill and the federal
NVRA.
3. Requires a voter registration agency, with each
application for service or assistance, to provide to an
applicant with a voter preference form and a voter
registration card, unless the applicant declines, and to
assist the applicant in completing the voter
registration card, unless the applicant refuses the
assistance.
4. Requires the SOS to coordinate with county elections
officials and voter registration agencies to implement
this bill, prepare written training materials that
describe the responsibilities of a elections officials
and voter registration agencies pursuant to the
provisions of this bill and the federal NVRA, contact a
voter registration agency if the agency is not complying
with the requirements of this bill and the federal NVRA,
CONTINUED
SB 35
Page
3
and coordinate with each state agency that evaluates the
performance of an agency designated as a voter
registration agency.
5. Requires a county elections official to provide voter
registration cards to and conduct training for a voter
registration agency upon request of the agency, and to
maintain a record of the number of voter registration
cards provided to and received from each agency.
6. Requires a voter registration agency to designate an
employee to be responsible for the agency's compliance
with requirements of this bill, and to take steps to
ensure that the agency has a sufficient supply of voter
preference forms and voter registration cards available,
as specified. Requires each agency to ensure that each
employee of the agency, who may provide voter
registration services, is trained annually using
materials prepared by the SOS.
7. Requires county elections officials to report to the SOS
monthly on the number of voter registration cards
received from each voter registration agency, and
requires the SOS to post the information contained in
each report on the SOS's Internet Web site.
8. Requires a voter registration agency that allows a
person to apply online for services or assistance, to
allow an applicant to electronically submit a voter
preference form to the agency, and to submit an
affidavit of voter registration electronically on the
SOS's Internet Web site in accordance with existing
online voter registration provisions of law.
9. Requires a voter registration agency to notify each
person who indicates on a voter preference form that
he/she would like to register to vote of the methods by
which that person may register, as specified.
10.Requires the SOS to take steps to ensure that the
electronic affidavit of voter registration is available,
and may be electronically submitted and verified, in all
languages which a county is required to provide voting
materials pursuant to the federal Voting Rights Act of
CONTINUED
SB 35
Page
4
1965.
11.Requires the California Health Benefit Exchange, no
later than July 1, 2014, to implement a process and the
infrastructure to allow a person who applies online for
service or assistance to submit an affidavit of voter
registration electronically on the Internet Web site of
the SOS in accordance with this bill.
Comments
According to the author, "Congress enacted the National
Voter Registration Act of 1993 ('NVRA' or the 'Motor Voter
Act'), to enhance voting opportunities for every American.
The Act has made it easier for all Americans to register to
vote and to maintain their registration by requiring that
individuals be given the opportunity to register to vote or
to change their voter registration data when applying for
or renewing their driver's license.
"A lesser known provision of the Motor Voter Act requires
states to provide individuals the opportunity to register
to vote or to change their voter registration data when
applying for, or receiving, services at state public
assistance office as designated by the state. These
designated agencies are known as Voter Registration
Agencies.
"Following the passage of the NVRA, Governor Pete Wilson
designated the minimum number of agencies, two, as voter
registration agencies as required by the law. Since 1994,
no additional agencies have been designated Voter
Registration Agencies despite California's discretionary
authority to do so. Thus, multiple state agencies in
California, some of which did not even exist in 1994 and
that together process millions of applications for public
benefits each year, have yet to be designated voter
registration agencies."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor
and absorbable costs to the SOS, county elections offices,
CONTINUED
SB 35
Page
5
and the California Health Benefit Exchange.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/26/12)
American Civil Liberties Union (source)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
California Common Cause
California Public Interest Resource Group
California State Student Association
Demos
Disability Rights California
Greenlining Institute
League of Women Voters
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Project Vote
San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council
SEIU California State Council
South Bay Labor Council
United Farm Workers
Working Partnerships
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-27, 08/27/12
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, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth,
Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Galgiani
DLW:m 8/30/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
CONTINUED
SB 35
Page
6
**** END ****
CONTINUED