BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1233
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
SB 1233 (Padilla) - As Amended: June 11, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 24-14
SUBJECT : Ballot measure petitions: translations.
SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG), if a proposed
initiative, referendum or recall petition is circulated in a
county covered by the federal minority language laws, to
translate the title and summary of the proposed initiative or
referendum, or the recall petition, as applicable, into the
applicable languages covered in that county. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires the proponents, at the time of submitting the text of
a proposed state initiative or referendum measure to the AG,
to submit a list of counties in which the petition will be
circulated that are covered by Section 203 (42 U.S.C Sec.
1977aa-1a) or Section 4(f)(4) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973b(f)(4)) of
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).
2)Requires the AG to prepare a translation for the circulating
title and summary of the proposed initiative or referendum in
each applicable minority language for the counties identified
by the proponents that are covered under the federal minority
language laws. Requires the AG to provide a copy of the
circulating title and summary of the proposed initiative, its
translation, and its unique identifier to the proponents and
the SOS within 25 days after the receipt of the fiscal
estimate or opinion prepared by the Department of Finance
(DOF) and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC).
Requires the AG to provide a copy of the circulating title and
summary of the referendum, its translation, and its unique
identifier to the proponents and the SOS within 20 days after
the receipt of the proposed referendum.
3)Requires the SOS, in the event that the SOS receives from the
AG a translation of the circulating title and summary for an
initiative or referendum, to provide the relevant translation
to the county elections official in each county identified by
the proponents.
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4)Requires the circulator of an initiative or referendum
petition that circulates the petition in a county covered by
the federal minority language laws to attach the translated
circulating title and summary prepared by the AG to the
petition and make it available to each person whom the
circulator solicits in that language to sign the petition.
Requires the circulator to provide a copy of the translated
circulating title and summary to any person upon request.
5)Requires the proponents of a recall of a state officer, at the
time of filing with the SOS two blank copies of the recall
petition, to submit to the SOS a list of the counties in which
the petitions will be circulated that are covered by the
Section 203 or Section 4(f)(4) of the federal VRA.
6)Requires the SOS, after ascertaining the proposed petition
meets form and wording requirements, to provide a copy of the
recall petition and the list of the counties submitted by the
proponents to the AG.
7)Requires the AG, within 10 days after receipt of the recall
petition and the list of counties submitted by the proponents,
to prepare a translation of the petition in each applicable
minority language for the counties covered under the federal
minority language laws.
8)Requires a copy of the translation of the recall petition
prepared by the AG to be attached to the petition and
available to each person whom the circulator solicits in that
language to sign the petition. Requires the circulator to
provide a copy of the applicable translation of the petition
to any person upon request.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW :
1)Requires a state or a political subdivision of a state to
provide voting materials in the language of a minority group
when that group within the jurisdiction has an illiteracy rate
that is higher than the national illiteracy rate, and the
number of the United States citizens of voting age in that
single language group within the jurisdiction meets at least
one of the following:
a) Numbers more than 10,000;
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b) Makes up more than five percent of all voting age
citizens; or,
c) On an Indian reservation, exceeds five percent of all
reservation residents.
2)Requires a state or political subdivision of a state to
provide voting materials in the language of a minority group
if all of the following apply:
a) Over five percent of the voting age citizens were, on
November 1, 1972, members of a single language minority
group;
b) Registration and election materials were provided only
in English on November 1, 1972; and,
c) Fewer than 50 percent of the voting age citizens were
registered to vote or voted in the 1972 Presidential
election.
3)Defines language minorities or language minority groups, for
the purposes of the above provisions, to mean persons who are
American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives, or of
Spanish heritage.
EXISTING STATE LAW :
1)Requires the proponent of a proposed initiative or referendum
to submit the proposal to the AG who must prepare a
circulating title and summary of its chief points and
purposes. Requires the AG to provide a copy of the
circulating title and summary to SOS within 15 days after
receipt of the final version of a proposed initiative measure,
or if a fiscal estimate is to be included, within the 15 days
after receipt of the fiscal estimate prepared by the DOF and
the JLBC, which have 25 days to prepare the fiscal estimate.
2)Requires the AG to provide a copy of the circulating title and
summary of a proposed referendum measure to the proponents of
the measure and the SOS within 10 days after receipt of the
proposed referendum.
3)Requires the proponents of a proposed initiative or
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referendum, at the time of submitting the text of the proposed
measure to the AG, to pay a fee of two hundred dollars ($200),
which will be refunded to the proponents if the measure
qualifies for the ballot within two years from the date of the
title and summary.
4)Requires the proponents of a recall of a state officer to file
a notice of intention with the SOS that includes the name and
title of the officer sought to be recalled, a statement of the
reasons for the proposed recall, and the name, signature and
residence address of each recall proponent. Requires a copy
of the notice of intention to be served by personal delivery,
or certified mail, to the officer sought to be recalled.
Permits the state officer sought to be recalled to file with
the SOS an answer to the statement of the proponents.
Requires the answer, if any, of the officer sought to be
recalled, to be included on the petition. Requires the
petition to indicate if no answer was provided.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
The Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 protects the rights
of limited English proficient (LEP) voters by providing
language accessible election materials (i.e. official state
voter's guide and sample ballot) in their language. In
California, the languages covered by the Federal Voting
Rights Act include Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese,
Korean, and Tagalog.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 2009, 58.7%
of the California foreign born population was LEP and 46.5%
of naturalized citizens age 5 and older were LEP. Among the
foreign born, 74% of those who spoke Spanish at home were
LEP and 57.5% of those who spoke Asian and Pacific Island
languages were LEP.
By failing to provide language appropriate petitions, LEP
voters are left out of the process of determining what
initiatives qualify for the ballot. As the initiative
system continues to play an important role in setting
policy in California, it is imperative to provide
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initiative material in languages set by the Federal Voting
Rights Act.
2)Voting Rights Act of 1965 : The 15th Amendment to the United
States Constitution provides, in part, "�t]he right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Additionally, the 15th Amendment authorizes Congress to enact
legislation to enforce its provisions.
Congress determined that the existing federal
anti-discrimination laws were not sufficient to overcome the
resistance by state officials to enforce the 15th Amendment.
As a result, Congress passed and President Johnson signed the
VRA. The VRA provides, among other provisions, that "�n]o
voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard,
practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any
State or political subdivision to deny or abridge that right
of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race
or color."
In 1975, Congress adopted the language minority provisions of
Sections 4(f)(4) and 203 of the VRA. Congress extended these
provisions in 1982, 1992, and 2006. Sections 4(f)(4) and 203
of the VRA require certain jurisdictions with significant
populations of voting age citizens who belong to a language
minority community to provide voting materials in a language
other than English. These determinations are based on data
from the most recent Census.
Specifically, Sections 203 and 4(f)(4) require that when a
covered state of political subdivision "�p]rovides
registration or voting notices, forms, instructions,
assistance, or other materials of information relating to the
electoral process, including ballots, it shall provide them in
the language of the applicable minority group as well as in
the English language."
3)New Census Data : On October 13, 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau
released a notice of determination of minority language status
following the 2010 census. Based on the findings, several
California counties will be required to provide materials to
voters in new or additional languages. Pursuant to Section
203, the State of California is required to provide bilingual
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voting assistance to Spanish speakers. Additionally, pursuant
to Section 203, 27 of California's 58 counties are
individually required to provide bilingual voting assistance
to Spanish speakers, and eight counties (Alameda, Los Angeles,
Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, and
Santa Clara) are required to provide voting materials in at
least one language other than English and Spanish. Pursuant
to Section 4(f)(4) of the Act, three counties are required to
provide bilingual voting assistance to Spanish speakers,
though two of those counties are also required to provide
assistance pursuant to Section 203. In total, 28 of
California's 58 counties are required to provide voting
materials in at least one language other than English.
Below is the breakdown of the covered counties and minority
languages according to the Federal Register from last year.
Statewide: Spanish
Alameda: Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
Colusa: Spanish
Contra Costa: Spanish
Fresno: Spanish
Glenn: Spanish
Imperial: Spanish
Kern: Spanish
Kings: Spanish
Los Angeles: Asian Indian (Bengali & Gujarati), Chinese,
Japanese,
Korean, Other Asian (Thai, Khmer, Hindi), Spanish, Tagalog,
Vietnamese
Madera: Spanish
Merced: Spanish
Napa: Spanish
Orange: Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese
Riverside: Spanish
Sacramento: Chinese, Spanish
San Benito: Spanish
San Bernardino: Spanish
San Diego: Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
San Joaquin: Spanish
San Mateo: Chinese, Spanish
Santa Barbara: Spanish
Santa Clara: Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
Stanislaus: Spanish
Tulare: Spanish
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Ventura: Spanish
The requirement that election materials be translated does not
extend to initiative and referendum materials or recall
petitions prior to qualification for the ballot.
4)Logistics : Current law requires the SOS to translate all
qualified ballot titles and summary for the state voter
pamphlet, consequently the SOS already has an established
administrative process in place for translating the ballot
title and summaries. However, this bill instead places the
translation requirement under the guise of the AG, resulting
in a new duty for the AG. The committee may wish to consider
how this new process would logistically work. For example, if
the AG translates the circulating title and summary for an
initiative that ends up qualifying for the ballot - would the
SOS still be responsible for translating the title and summary
for the state voter pamphlet or would the translation from the
AG's office be used instead? How would that situation be
reconciled? The committee may wish to consider whether it
would be more appropriate for the SOS to prepare the
translations required by this bill.
5)Practical Application : Proponents of the bill argue that
limited English proficient voters are left out of the process
of determining which measures qualify for the ballot. This
bill, by requiring proponents to provide the AG a list of the
counties in which the proposed measures will be circulated,
will incorporate limited English proficient voters. For
example, if proponents want to collect signatures on a
proposed initiative in Sacramento County, the AG would be
required to translate the circulating title and summary into
both Spanish and Chinese. Moreover, proponents who are
soliciting signatures for a proposed statewide initiative,
referendum or recall petition, would theoretically find it
necessary, due to its large population, to solicit signatures
for any statewide proposed measure or recall in Los Angeles
County. As a result, the AG would be required to translate
the title and summary or the recall petition into
approximately 11 different languages and the cost of those
translations would be absorbed by the state. Currently,
according to the SOS's website, there are approximately 42
proposed statewide initiatives cleared for circulation and two
that are pending at the AG's office. If this bill were
currently in place, the AG would be required to translate the
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title and summary of all of those measures into multiple
languages for circulation.
Additionally, as mentioned above, this bill requires the
proponents of an initiative, referendum, or recall petition,
at the time of submitting their proposal, to provide the AG
with a list of the counties in which the petition would be
circulated so the proposed measure may be translated
accordingly. What happens if the proponents decide to add a
county that was left off their initial list? Will the
proponents be required to start the process all over again or
could they submit a secondary request? The committee may wish
to consider whether requiring the AG to translate the
circulating titles and summaries into every language would
make for a more efficient and seamless process for both the AG
and the proponents of the proposed measures.
6)Costs : Current law requires initiative measures to be
translated in their entirety, including title and summary, for
the official state voter information guide, if it qualifies
for the ballot. Therefore, measures that qualify for the
ballot do not present an additional cost to the state. This
bill would require the translations of the title and summary
to occur earlier in the initiative process. However,
translations for an initiative or referendum measure or a
recall petition prior to qualification for the ballot will
represent new costs. According to the Office of State
Publishing, which translates and prints the official state
voter information guide for the SOS, the following from 2010
illustrate the costs incurred for translation services:
Spanish: 31 cents per English word ($31 for 100 word
title/summary)
Japanese: 26 cents per English word ($26 for 100 word
title/summary)
Chinese: 28 cents per English word ($28 for 100 word
title/summary)
Vietnamese:20 cents per English word ($20 for 100 word
title/summary)
Korean: 27 cents per English word ($27 for 100 word
title/summary)
Tagalog: 20 cents per English word ($20 for 100 word
title/summary)
As noted above, eight counties are currently required to
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translate election materials in one language other than
English and Spanish. The committee may wish to consider
whether the current $200 filing fee for submitting a proposed
initiative measure to the AG for the title and summary should
be raised commensurately to cover the additional costs of
translations.
7)Recall Petitions : This measure requires the AG to translate
recall petitions for state officers. As a result, the entire
recall petition, including the explanation for the recall
effort, the officer's response to the recall, as well as other
aspects on the petition, would be required to be translated.
Although there has been a low frequency of state officer
recalls - approximately 10 attempts in the last decade, two of
which qualified for the ballot - this bill nonetheless would
result in a new duty for the AG. The AG is not currently
required to be involved in the current processes or procedures
involved with recalls of state officials. Additionally, as
mentioned above, the SOS already has an established
administrative process in place for translating qualified
ballot titles and summaries for the voter pamphlet and the SOS
is already involved in the recall petition process, as such
the committee may wish to consider whether it would be more
feasible and efficient to require the SOS to prepare the
translations of the recall petitions of state officials.
Additionally, this bill would require recall petitions to be
translated in their entirety - something that is not required
for other petitions. The committee may wish to consider
whether treating petitions differently is appropriate.
Additionally, the committee should consider whether this
requirement should either be removed from the bill in its
entirety or instead make this requirement apply to all
petitions.
8)Arguments in Support : The NALEO Educational Fund writes in
support:
Our experience in civic engagement has demonstrated that
when California Latinos are provided with accessible
information about the issues confronting our state, they
feel empowered to participate in the electoral process, and
will do so more effectively. SB 1233 would help ensure
that California voters with limited English proficiency
will fully understand initiative and referenda petitions
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and provide their signatures to such efforts in an informed
manner. Furthermore, having access to materials in their
native language protects voters from misleading or
inaccurate information which might be provided from
signature gathers. Ultimately, translated initiative and
referenda petitions provide English proficient voters the
information they need to ensure that all members of
California's diverse electorate have an equal opportunity
to participate in California's democracy. For this reason,
we strongly support SB 1233.
9)Related Legislation : AB 1814 (Eng) requires each county
elections official to report to the SOS regarding the county's
compliance with federal and state laws and regulations related
to providing voters with language assistance. AB 1814 was
approved by this committee on a 4-2 vote, and is pending in
the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
The Greenlining Institute (sponsor)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action
California Church IMPACT
California Common Cause
California Immigrant Policy Center
El Concilio of San Mateo County
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Empower San Diego
FAME Corporations
Hmong American Political Association
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Mission Language & Vocational School
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
Educational Fund
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Council of La Raza
West Angeles Community Development Corporation
Opposition
None on file.
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Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094