BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1233
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1233 (Padilla)
As Amended August 6, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :24-14
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fong, Bonilla, Hall, |Ayes:|Gatto, Blumenfield, |
| |Mendoza, Swanson | |Bradford, |
| | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Hill, Cedillo, Mitchell, |
| | | |Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly, Logue |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG), if a proposed
initiative or referendum 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, as applicable,
into the applicable languages covered in that county. Requires the
Secretary of State (SOS), if a recall petition of a state officer is
circulated in a county covered by the federal minority language
laws, to translate the petition into the applicable languages 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 the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA)
Section 203 (42 U.S.C Sec. 1977aa-1a) or Section 4(f)(4) (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1973b(f)(4)).
2)Requires the AG to prepare a translation of 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
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and summary of a 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 and the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee. Requires the AG to provide a copy of the circulating
title and summary of a 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.
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 federal VRA
Section 203 or Section 4(f)(4).
6)Requires the SOS, within in 10 days after ascertaining the
proposed recall petition meets form and wording requirements, to
prepare a translation of the petition in each applicable minority
language for the counties covered under the federal minority
language laws.
7)Requires a copy of the translation of the recall petition prepared
by the SOS 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
annual General Fund costs up to $130,000 to the AG for one position
and for translation services, based on an average of 80 proposed
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measures annually and estimated costs of about $390 per measure to
translate into nine languages. Given the small number of recall
petitions, costs to the SOS would be negligible.
COMMENTS : 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
initiative material in languages set by the Federal Voting Rights
Act."
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 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 VRA, 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.
The current requirement that election materials be translated does
not extend to initiative and referendum materials or recall
petitions prior to qualification for the ballot.
SB 1233
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Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN:
0005028