BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1589
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1589 (Frazier)
As Introduced February 3, 2014
Majority vote
ELECTIONS 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fong, Donnelly, Mullin, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, Allen, |
| |Hall, Logue, Perea, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Rodriguez | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Linder, Pan, |
| | | |Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Deletes provisions of law that require a military or
overseas voter's electronic mail address to expire no later than
December 31 of the year following the calendar year of the
application and instead requires an elections official to
provide for electronic delivery of a ballot to a military or
overseas voter who makes a standing request for all elections
conducted in the jurisdiction in which he or she is eligible to
vote.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible costs for county elections official to
maintain email addresses of military and overseas voters beyond
the current expiration period.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Members of the military and
other U.S. citizens living overseas are allowed to receive their
voter information and blank, unvoted ballots by mail, fax, or
email. For voters who request their ballot by mail or by fax,
that request is considered to be a standing request for each
election until such time that the voter changes their preference
or does not vote in a certain number of regularly scheduled
statewide elections.
"However, voters who request their ballot be emailed to them are
treated differently because under state law, a voter's request
to receive a ballot by email is only good for two years. Only
AB 1589
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military and overseas voters who request their ballot by email
are subject to this 'expiration' of their ballot delivery
address.
"AB 1589 removes the 'email expiration' language from state law,
allowing a request for ballot delivery to stand for as long as
the military or overseas voter is eligible for email delivery of
their ballot?"
In 2012, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 1805
(Huffman), Chapter 744, Statutes of 2012, which was a uniform
law that established new voting procedures for military and
overseas voters and was written in a way that it could be
applicable in multiple states that have different election
procedures. AB 1805 was an effort to address the lack of
uniformity between states regarding the ability of overseas and
military voters to vote in state and local elections, which
complicates efforts to more fully enfranchise those voters.
However, applying a uniform law across states can be complicated
and unintended consequences can occur. This bill seeks to
address such a situation and address a uniform provision of law
that could unintentionally result in the disenfranchisement of
military or overseas voters.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094 FN:
0003130