BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 205|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 205
Author: Correa (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 3/15/11
AYES: Correa, De Le�n, Lieu
NOES: La Malfa, Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Voter registration: paid registration
activities
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill prohibits any person, company, or
other organization from agreeing to pay money or other
valuable consideration on a per-affidavit basis to any
person who assists another person to register to vote by
receiving the completed affidavit of registration,
prohibits the receipt of this per-affidavit consideration,
and makes conforming changes. A violation of these
prohibitions would be a misdemeanor.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes penalties for
fraudulent activity related to voter registration.
Existing law authorizes any person, company, or other
organization that complies with specified conditions to pay
money or other valuable consideration, on a per-affidavit
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basis or otherwise, to any person who assists another
person to register to vote by receiving the completed
affidavit of registration.
This bill prohibits any person, company, or other
organization from agreeing to pay money or other valuable
consideration on a per-affidavit basis to any person who
assists another person to register to vote by receiving the
completed affidavit of registration and would prohibit the
receipt of this per-affidavit consideration. A violation
of these prohibitions would constitute a misdemeanor. This
bill states that it shall not be construed to prohibit
payment for assisting another person to register to vote by
receiving the completed affidavit which is not, either
directly or indirectly, on a per-affidavit basis. This
bill also makes conforming changes to other related code
sections.
Background
" Bounty Hunters ." Individuals who are paid to register
voters or to collect signatures on initiative, referendum,
or recall petitions are commonly referred to as "bounty
hunters." According to the Secretary of State's Election
Fraud Investigation Unit (EFIU) between 1994 and 2010 the
EFIU opened 960 cases for fraudulent voter registration or
fraudulently altering party affiliation on voter
registration cards. Out of these, 99 were referred to
district attorneys for prosecution resulting in 64
convictions.
As recently as 2010, Orange County and other county
elections officials have received hundreds of complaints
from voters who were re-registered with a political party
without their permission. According to press reports, the
companies in charge of these registration drives have paid
workers as much as $8-$10 for every completed voter
registration card.
Other States . At least five other states, including
Colorado, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin
prohibit paying voter registration "bounty hunters" on a
per affidavit basis.
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Comments
According to the author's office, we know that voting fraud
by voters is extremely rare; however, voter registration
fraud by bounty hunters is all too common. Every election
cycle yields another crop of individuals who abuse our
voter registration regulations. Thousands of voters in
California have had their party affiliation tampered with,
many of them had their names forged, others were duped into
registering despite their ineligibility or unknowingly
switched parties, and many non-citizens have been misled
into registering to vote, and almost all of this because of
individuals who are paid, often in cash, for voter
registrations on a bounty system, or per-affidavit. This
bill helps eliminate the incentive to commit this type of
fraud by prohibiting payment to bounty hunters on a
per-affidavit basis.
Prior Legislation
SB 812 (Correa), 2007-08 Session, was similar to this bill
but was eventually amended and used for an unrelated
purpose.
AB 2946 (Leno), 2005-06 Session, would have prohibited the
payment of an individual to register voters if that payment
was on a per-registration basis, among other provisions.
AB 2946 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, though his
veto message focused on other parts of that bill, and did
not address the provisions of the bill that would have
prohibited bounty payments for registering voters.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/16/11)
Secretary of State
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
DLW:kc 4/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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