BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1272
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1272 (Kehoe) - As Amended: August 6, 2012
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes to Elections Code provisions
regarding county central political party committee elections,
including:
1)Deleting the requirement that county central committee members
of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, the American
Independent Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party be elected
at every statewide direct primary election, and permitting
members of these parties to be elected at every presidential
primary election.
2)Permitting, in general, committee members of each of the above
parties to select its members at any time by holding a caucus
or convention or by any other method of selection approved by
the committee. (There are variations to this provision
specific to each of the parties.)
3)Requiring nomination documents to be available to candidates
for membership on a county central committee beginning on the
158th day, rather than the 113th day, prior to the primary
election.
4)Deleting the option for one of these parties' central
committees, if the number of its candidates does not exceed
the number of offices available, to require elections
officials to nevertheless print the names of all candidates on
the ballot in order to allow for write-in candidates.
5)Makes the bill's provisions severable.
FISCAL EFFECT
SB 1272
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Changing central committee elections, through the primary
election system, to every four instead of every two years will
provide significant savings to counties. (According to a survey
conducted by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, in the
June 2008 primary election, county central committee/county
council costs reported by 20 of the 58 counties totaled $2.8
million statewide.)
COMMENTS
1)Background . County central committees of the American
Independent, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Republican, and
Peace and Freedom parties are elected every two years at
statewide direct primary elections. According to the
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
(CACEO), a significant proportion of all candidates who file
to run for any office are county central committee candidates.
For example, in the June 2010 statewide direct primary, for 25
of the 53 counties that provided data, county central
committee candidates represented 50% or more of the total
number of candidates that filed for office. According to
county representatives, many county central committee
candidates are first-time candidates and usually less
experienced with the process, thus requiring more time and
assistance from county elections staff. Additionally, staff
time is also spent on, among other tasks, checking signatures
and translating and proofing materials for county central
committee contests, which typically do not end up on the
ballot as there often are fewer candidates than the number of
open offices. Unlike other candidates, county central
committee candidates do not pay filing fees, and the cost of
their elections is completely subsidized by county government.
2)Purpose . According to the author, "This bill reduces county
expenses by holding central committee elections every four
years - not every two years - during direct presidential
primaries. Political parties that need to hold elections more
often would retain authority to have as many elections as
deemed necessary using by holding elections outside of the
state process using internal party means.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 1272
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