BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1596
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1596 (Garcia) - As Introduced: February 4, 2014
SUBJECT : Elections: vote by mail ballot applications.
SUMMARY : Requires a printed vote by mail (VBM) ballot
application that allows a voter to submit the application by
mail to inform the voter of the address for the elections
official and specify that address as the only appropriate
destination address for mailing the application. Specifies that
this does not prohibit an individual, organization, or group
that distributes applications for VBM ballots from collecting or
receiving applications from voters, pursuant to current law, by
a means other than having the applications mailed directly to
the address of the distributing individuals, organization, or
group.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a VBM ballot application to be received by the
elections official not later than seven days prior to the date
of the election.
2)Requires a printed application that is to be distributed to a
voter for requesting a VBM ballot to include the following:
a) The printed name and residence address of the voter as
it appears on the affidavit of registration;
b) The address to which the ballot is to be mailed;
c) The voter's signature; and,
d) The name and date of the election for which the request
is made.
3)Permits the information above in subdivisions (a) and (d) to
be preprinted on VBM applications. Requires information above
in subdivisions (b) and (c) to be personally affixed by the
voter. Requires a VBM application that contains preprinted
information to contain a conspicuously printed statement
substantially similar to the following: "You have the legal
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right to mail or deliver this application directly to the
local elections official of the county where you reside."
4)Prohibits the address to which the ballot is to be mailed from
being the address of a political party, a political campaign
headquarters, or a candidate's residence. Provides that a
candidate, his or her spouse, immediate family members, and
any other voter who shares the same residence address as the
candidate may request that a VBM ballot be mailed to the
candidate's residence.
5)Requires an individual, organization, or group that
distributes applications for VBM ballots and receives
completed application forms to return the forms to the
appropriate elections official within 72 hours of receiving
the forms, or before the deadline for application, whichever
is sooner.
6)Provides that any individual, group, or organization that
knowingly distributes any application for a VBM ballot that
violates current law is guilty of a misdemeanor.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
In recent years there have been increasing reports of
alleged tampering and interference with Vote by Mail
applications. In 2013, the Los Angeles County
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk received numerous reports
about campaigns collecting voted Vote by Mail ballots from
voters, this included concerns with campaigns also holding
completed Vote by Mail applications at their headquarters
and the potential for losing or refusing to return the
applications on time.
2)Current Procedures : Current law prohibits the address to
which a VBM ballot is to be mailed from being the address of a
political party, a political campaign headquarters, or a
candidate's residence. However, current law does not apply
the same prohibition to the return address of the VBM
application. As a result, according to the author's office,
some VBM applications have campaign addresses as the return
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address for the application and VBM applications are being
sent to the campaign address instead of to the elections
official's office. According to the author, even though
current law requires an individual or organization that
distributes VBM applications to return the forms to the
appropriate elections official with 72 hours of receiving the
completed form or before the deadline for applications,
whichever is sooner, there are anecdotal reports that this is
not occurring and VBM applications are being delayed, lost, or
not returned at all. Not only is this a violation of current
law, but it also results in interfering with the VBM process.
This bill will ensure a voter's VBM ballot application is
protected by requiring a VBM ballot application to inform the
voter of the address of the elections official and specify
that address as the only appropriate destination address for
mailing the application. This will aid in ensuring voters are
informed where to send their VBM ballot applications.
3)Is There a Problem ? The author's office provided the
committee staff with two VBM application examples - one VBM
application that clearly shows the return address of a
campaign office. The other example submitted to the committee
shows that the VBM ballot application provides the voter with
the address of the elections official and informs the voter in
small print that they have the legal right to mail the
application to the elections official, and that returning the
application to anyone else may cause delay that could
interfere with the voter's right or ability to vote.
Additionally, proponents of this bill state that anecdotally,
in local elections, county elections officials, especially Los
Angeles County, have been receiving an increasing number of
concerns from community members, organizations, elected
officials that have brought forth complaints regarding the
inappropriate handling of VBM ballots. These complaints range
from campaign workers losing VBM ballot applications to
concerns that campaigns may be holding applications and
bringing them in late in the election, leaving a person less
time to receive, vote and return their VBM ballot.
However, beyond those two examples provided to committee and the
anecdotal complaints, no statistical evidence has been
provided to the committee that demonstrates there is a problem
statewide. According to the Secretary of State's Election
Fraud Investigations Unit, between 1994 to 2010, there was a
total of five cases opened and zero convictions for the
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non-return of VBM applications. Additionally, there were six
cases opened for fraudulent VBM applications and zero
convictions. The lack of evidence illustrates that this may
not be a widespread problem in California. On the other hand,
ensuring voters are informed as to the appropriate place to
return their VBM application will prevent VBM ballot
applications from being delayed or interfered with and ensure
voters are protected and not disenfranchised. Proponents
argue that this bill will help provide added protections and
safeguard the integrity of the VBM process as it is an
important option that more voters are choosing when casting
their ballots.
4)Arguments in Support : The California Association of Clerks
and Election Officials writes in support:
This bill will facilitate and speed the processing of
vote-by-mail applications by by-passing intermediaries who
delay election officials' receipt of the request. The bill
does not preclude individuals and organizations from
gathering vote-by-mail applications by means other than
through the mail which does not hamper their right to
conduct vote-by-mail campaigns while retaining the 72 hour
requirement for the application to be submitted to the
appropriate election official. This bill will permit
election officials to mail, in a timely manner, ballots to
those requesting them which can often be an issue as the
election nears.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Clerks and Election Officials
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094
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