BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1446
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1446 (Mullin)
As Amended March 25, 2014
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 5-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
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|Ayes:|Fong, Mullin, Hall, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Perea, Rodriguez | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Bigelow, Allen, Donnelly, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Updates the voter registration process to reflect the
availability of online voter registration. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires an individual or organization that distributes voter
registration cards in accordance with current law, a person
entrusted with an affidavit of registration from an elector in
accordance with existing law, or an individual or organization
that assists with the submission of an affidavit of
registration electronically on the Secretary of State's (SOS)
Internet Web site, to comply with both of the following:
a) Prohibits the use of affidavit of registration
information for any personal, private, or commercial
purpose, as specified.
b) Requires an individual or organization described above
to employ reasonable security measures, including employing
administrative and physical safeguards, and, for affidavit
of registration information available in an electronic
form, technical safeguards, to protect the voter
registration information from unlawful disclosure and
misuse.
2)Eliminates the requirement that the SOS provide every high
AB 1446
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school, California Community College (CCC), California State
University (CSU), and University of California (UC) campus
with voter registration forms that are 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.
3)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.
4)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.
5)Repeals provisions of law that allow a county elections
official to provide affidavits of registration and voter
registration cards on its Internet Web site, as specified and
instead prohibits an affidavit of registration from being
submitted electronically on a county's Internet Web site.
Permits a county to provide a hyperlink on the county's
Internet Web site to the SOS's electronic voter registration
system.
6)Requires an individual or organization that distributes voter
registration cards, as designed in accordance with current
law, to obtain the voter registration cards from the county
elections official or the SOS. Requires the individual or
organization to comply with all applicable regulations
established by the SOS when distributing the cards.
7)Makes other conforming and corresponding changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, 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 [voter registration] is
available.
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COMMENTS : According to the author, "California has laws and
regulations for voter registration drives that ensure the
privacy of voters' personal information, outlaw the
discrimination or intimidation of voters, and facilitate fraud
investigations. However, existing law is specific to the use of
paper voter registration cards and does not clearly apply to
online registration.
"AB 1446 updates the Elections Code by applying many of these
same duties and responsibilities to online registration drives.
In addition, the bill takes into account the unique nature of
internet-based registration by applying reasonable limits and
safeguards to protect voter privacy and prevent the unlawful use
of voter registration information. AB 1446 also updates the
Student Voter Registration Act to reflect the availability of
online voter registration?"
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
FN: 0003128