BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Alex Padilla, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1596 HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
AUTHOR: GARCIA ANALYSIS BY: Frances Tibon
Estoista
AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL: NO
SUBJECT
Elections: vote by mail ballot applications
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires a vote by mail (VBM) ballot application to
be received by the elections official not later than seven days
prior to the date of the election.
Existing law 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 to
be made.
Existing law permits the information above in subdivisions (a)
and (d) to be preprinted on VBM applications, and also requires
information above in subdivisions (b) and (c) to be personally
affixed by the voter.
Existing law requires a VBM application that contains preprinted
information to contain a conspicuously printed statement
substantially similar to the following: "You have the legal
right to mail or deliver this application directly to the local
elections official of the county where you reside."
Existing law 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. Existing law
also 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.
Existing law 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.
Existing law 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.
This bill requires a printed 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.
This bill does not prohibit an individual, organization, or
group that distributes applications for VBM ballots from
collecting or receiving applications from voters, pursuant to
existing law, by a means other than having the applications
mailed directly to the address of the distributing individual,
organization, or group.
BACKGROUND
Current Procedures : Existing 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 .
COMMENTS
1. 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
AB 1596 (GARCIA)
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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.
The Vote by Mail application is an official voter request that
is processed only by the registrar's office. A voter should
be guaranteed that the application will reach the registrar
in a timely manner, without delay. AB 1596 will require that
all Vote-by-Mail applications be mailed directly to the
country registrar for processing rather than going back to a
campaign and then to the county registrar.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee: 6-0
Assembly Floor: 78-0
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials (CACEO)
Oppose: None received
AB 1596 (GARCIA)
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