Amended in Assembly May 28, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1873

Introduced by Assembly Members Gonzalez and Mullin

February 19, 2014

An act to amend begin delete Sections 4004 and end delete begin insert Section end insert 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.

begin delete (1) end delete begin delete   end delete 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 begin insert , until January 1, 2020, end insert 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. 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.

begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

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.

end delete

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 begin delete 4000, end delete begin insert 4000 or any other
law, end insert 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 supervisors of each county that lies in whole
or in part within the congressional or legislative district, by
resolution, authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the election.

(2) The election does not occur on the same date as a statewide
begin insert direct end insert primary begin delete or end delete begin insert election, statewide end insert general begin delete election end delete begin insert election, end insert 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 begin delete 21 days end delete begin insert not less than end insert begin insert seven days end insert 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.

(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 begin delete the office of the elections
official end delete begin insert a satellite location within the congressional or legislative
district end insert pursuant to Section 3018. The elections official shall
determine the hours of operation for each Saturday and Sunday,
provided that the begin delete office of the elections official end delete begin insert satellite location end insert
shall be open to voters for a minimum of six hours on each
designated Saturday and Sunday.

(D) At least one polling place is provided per city or the polling
places are fixed in a manner so that there is one polling place for
every begin delete 100,000 residents end delete begin insert 10,000 registered voters end insert within the
congressional or legislative district, as determined begin delete by the annual
city total population rankings by the Demographic Research Unit
of the Department of Finance, end delete on the 88th day prior to the day of
the election, whichever results in more polling places. A polling
place shall allow begin delete voters end delete begin insert a voter end insert to request begin insert and vote end insert a ballot between
7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of the begin delete election if end delete begin insert election. end insert begin delete they have
not received their ballots in the mail or if they need replacement
ballots for any other reason. end delete

begin delete

(E) Upon the request of the city, county, or district, the

end delete begin insert

(E) The polling places provided under this section shall be
established in accordance with the accessibility requirements
described in Article 5 (commencing with Section 12280) of Chapter
3 of Division 12 and in the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1971 et seq.), and shall be evenly distributed
throughout the congressional or legislative district.

end insert begin insert

(F) Precinct boards shall be appointed and established in
accordance with Article 1 (commencing with Section 12300) of
Chapter 4 of Division 12.

end insert begin insert

(G) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the election
day procedures shall be conducted in accordance with Division
14 (commencing with Section 14000).

end insert

begin insert (H) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert elections official may provide, at his or her discretion,
additional ballot dropoff locations and polling places.

(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, begin delete a list of the ballot dropoff locations pursuant to paragraph
(3), and posts that list on the Internet Web site of the county
elections office. end delete begin insert all of the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) A notice informing voters that the election is being conducted
wholly by mail and that each eligible voter will receive a ballot
by mail.

end insert begin insert

(B) A list of the ballot dropoff locations and polling places
established pursuant to paragraph (3). The list shall also be posted
on the Internet Web site of the county elections official.

end insert begin insert

(C) A statement informing voters that the voting materials,
including the official ballot and the facsimile ballot, are available
in all languages required by subdivision (c) of Section 14201 or
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1971 et seq.).

end insert

(b) 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.

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

(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.

(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:

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

begin insert

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

end insert

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 4004 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

4004.  

Notwithstanding Sections 1500 and 4000, an election in
a county, 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 county or 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.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 10703 of the Elections Code is amended to
read:

10703.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert 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.

begin delete

(a)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  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.

begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert  A special election described in this section may be
conducted wholly by mail pursuant to Section 4000.5.

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert This subdivision shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date. end insert