Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1873

Introduced by Assembly begin delete Member end delete begin insert Members end insert Gonzalez begin insert and Mullin end insert

February 19, 2014

An act to amend Sections 4004 and 10703 of, and to add Section 4000.5 to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1873, as amended, Gonzalez. Mail ballot elections.

(1) Existing law provides for the calling of a special election to fill a congressional or legislative vacancy. Under existing law, the governing body of a local agency is authorized to conduct a local, special, or consolidated election wholly by mail under specified conditions.

This bill would authorize a board of supervisors of a county to conduct a special election or special consolidated election to fill a congressional or legislative vacancy wholly by mail under specified conditions. begin insert The bill would also authorize any jurisdiction conducting a special election wholly by mail to process vote by mail ballot return envelopes beginning 29 days before the election, and would authorize any jurisdiction in possession of the necessary computer capability to process vote by mail ballots on the 10th business day before the election, as specified. end insert

(2) Existing law authorizes an election in a small city, defined as a city with a population of 100,000 or less, or in a school district or special district, to be conducted wholly as an all-mail ballot election, subject to certain conditions, including that the election is a special election to fill a vacancy in the legislative body or governing body and that the election not be consolidated with any other election.

This bill would remove the requirement that an all-mail ballot election be conducted only in a city with a population of 100,000 or less. The bill would also delete the provision prohibiting a consolidated election from being conducted wholly by mail, and would instead provide that in order to conduct an all-mail ballot election in a consolidated election in which boundaries overlap, all jurisdictions of the overlapping boundaries would be required to agree to conduct the election as an all-mail ballot election. The bill would additionally authorize a municipal election, as specified, to be conducted as an all-mail ballot election.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 4000.5 is added to the Elections Code,
to read:

4000.5.  

(a) Notwithstanding Section 4000, a special election
or special consolidated election may be conducted wholly by mail
to fill a vacancy in a congressional or legislative office if all of the
following apply:

(1) The board of begin delete supervisors, end delete begin insert supervisors of each county that
lies in whole or in part within the congressional or legislative
district, end insert by resolution, authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the
election.

(2) The election does not occur on the same date as a statewide
primary or general election or any other election conducted in an
overlapping jurisdiction that is not consolidated and conducted
wholly by mail pursuant to this section.

(3) (A) At least one ballot dropoff location is provided per city
and is open during business hours to receive voted ballots
beginning 21 days before the date of the election.

(B) The number of dropoff locations in unincorporated areas
shall be based on the number of unincorporated registered voters
divided by 100,000 (rounded to the next whole number) with no
less than one location to be selected.

begin insert

(C) On at least one Saturday and Sunday on or after the date
an elections official first delivers ballots to voters, the elections
official shall allow any voter to vote the ballot at the office of the
elections official pursuant to Section 3018. The elections official
shall determine the hours of operation for each Saturday and
Sunday, provided that the office of the elections official shall be
open to voters for a minimum of six hours on each designated
Saturday and Sunday.

end insert begin delete

(C)

end delete

begin insert (D) end insert  At least one polling place is provided begin delete pursuant to
subparagraphs (A) and (B) where voters can end delete begin insert per city or the polling
places are fixed in a manner so that there is one polling place for
every 100,000 residents within the congressional or legislative
district, as determined by the annual city total population rankings
by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance,
on the 88th day prior to the day of the election, whichever results
in more polling places. A polling place shall allow voters to end insert request
a ballot between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of the election if
they have not received their ballots in the mail or if they need
replacement ballots for any other reason.

begin insert

(E) Upon the request of the city, county, or district, the elections
official may provide, at his or her discretion, additional ballot
dropoff locations and polling places.

end insert

(4) The elections official delivers to each voter all supplies
necessary for the use and return of the mail ballot, including an
envelope for the return of the voted mail ballot with postage
prepaid.

(5) The elections official delivers to each voter, with either the
sample ballot sent pursuant to Section 13303 or with the voter’s
ballot, a list of the ballot dropoff locations pursuant to paragraph
(3), and begin delete also end delete posts that list on the Internet Web site of the county
elections office.

begin delete

(b) If a congressional or legislative district overlaps multiple
counties, the county having the majority of the voters in the vacant
jurisdiction shall determine whether the special election will be
conducted wholly by mail pursuant to this section.

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert If the congressional or legislative district includes more
than one county, the board of supervisors of every county within
the district shall enter into an agreement to conduct the special
election wholly by mail pursuant to this section. end insert

(c) The return of voted mail ballots is subject to begin insert subdivision (d)
and end insert Section 3017.

begin insert

(d) (1) All vote by mail ballots cast under this section shall be
received by the elections official from whom they were obtained
or by the precinct board no later than the close of the polls on
election day.

end insert begin insert

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any vote by mail ballot cast
under this section shall be timely cast if it is received by the voter’s
elections official no later than three days after election day and
either of the following is satisfied:

end insert begin insert

(A) The ballot is postmarked on or before election day or is time
stamped or date stamped by a bona fide private mail delivery
company on or before election day.

end insert begin insert

(B) If the ballot has no postmark, a postmark with no date, or
an illegible postmark, the vote by mail ballot identification
envelope is signed and dated pursuant to Section 3011 on or before
election day.

end insert begin insert

(e) (1) Any jurisdiction conducting a special election under
this section may process vote by mail ballot return envelopes
beginning 29 days before the election. Processing vote by mail
ballot return envelopes may include verifying the voter’s signature
on the vote by mail ballot return envelope and updating voter
history records.

end insert begin insert

(2) Any jurisdiction conducting a special election under this
section and in possession of the necessary computer capability
may start to process vote by mail ballots on the 10th business day
before the election. Processing vote by mail ballots includes
opening vote by mail ballot return envelopes, removing ballots,
duplicating any damaged ballots, and preparing the ballots to be
machine read, or machine reading them, but under no
circumstances shall a vote count be accessed or released until 8
p.m. on the day of the election. All other jurisdictions shall start
to process vote by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the
election.

end insert begin insert

(f) Results of any vote by mail ballot tabulation or count shall
not be released before the close of the polls on the day of the
election.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

Section 4004 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

4004.  

Notwithstanding Sections 1500 and 4000, an election in
a begin insert county, end insert city, school district, or special district may be conducted
wholly as an all-mail ballot election, subject to the following
conditions:

(a) The legislative body of the begin insert county or end insert city or the governing
body of the school district or special district, by resolution,
authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the election.

(b) The election is a special election to fill a vacancy in the
legislative body or governing body, or is a special election
conducted pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 9200)
of Division 9.

(c) The election is not held on the same date as a statewide
primary or general election.

(d) In a consolidated election in which boundaries overlap, all
of the jurisdictions within the overlapping boundaries agree to
conduct the election as an all-mail ballot election.

(e) The return of voted mail ballots is subject to Section 3017.

SEC. 3.  

Section 10703 of the Elections Code is amended to
read:

10703.  

A special election to fill a vacancy in the office of
Representative in Congress, State Senator, or Member of the
Assembly shall be conducted on a Tuesday at least 126 days, but
not more than 140 days, following the issuance of an election
proclamation by the Governor pursuant to Section 1773 of the
Government Code, except that the special election may be
conducted within 180 days following the proclamation in order
that the election or the primary election may be consolidated with
the next regularly scheduled statewide election or local election
occurring wholly or partially within the same territory in which
the vacancy exists, provided that the voters eligible to vote in the
local election comprise at least 50 percent of all the voters eligible
to vote on the vacancy.

(a) Except as provided in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
10730), a special election or a primary election may not be
conducted on the day after a state holiday.

(b) A special election described in this section may be conducted
wholly by mail pursuant to Section 4000.5.