BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1446
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1446 (Mullin) - As Amended: March 25, 2014
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill updates various voter registration statutes to reflect
the availability of online voter registration. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Eliminates the requirement that the Secretary of State (SOS)
provide every high school and every California Community
College (CCC), California State University (CSU), and
University of California (UC) campus voter registration forms
consistent with the number of students enrolled at each school
who are of voting age or will be of voting age by the end of
the year. Forms will continue to be provided as requested by
the schools and campuses.
2)Deletes the requirement that every CCC and CSU campus that
operates an automated class registration system must permit
students, during class registration, to elect to receive a
voter registration form that is preprinted with personal
information relevant to voter registration, as specified, and
instead requires the school to permit students, during class
registration, to apply to register to vote online by
submitting an affidavit of voter registration electronically
on the SOS's Internet Web site.
3)Requires the SOS to report to the Legislature, as specified,
how many electronic affidavits of voter registration were
submitted by students via the process described above.
4)Repeals provisions allowing a county elections official to
provide affidavits of registration and voter registration
cards on their website, prohibits an affidavit of registration
from being submitted electronically on a county's website, and
AB 1446
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permits a county to provide a hyperlink on the website to the
SOS's electronic voter registration system.
5)Makes other conforming changes regarding the availability of
online voter registration.
FISCAL EFFECT
No significant fiscal impact to the SOS, CCC, CSU, UC, or
counties. The bill, in most respects, updates statutes to
reflect current practice now that online voting is available.
COMMENTS
Purpose . SB 397 (Yee), Chapter 561, Statutes of 2011, authorized
the SOS, in conjunction with the California Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV), to implement online voter registration prior to
the completion of a new statewide voter registration database.
According to the SOS's office, in the first 12 months after the
launch of the online voter registration application on September
19, 2012, more than 911,145 Californians registered for the
first time or updated their voter record using the online
system. AB 1446 updates numerous statutes governing voter
registration to account for this new technology.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081