BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2177
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 1, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 2177 (Brown) - As Amended: March 25, 2014
SUBJECT : Early voting.
SUMMARY : Requires county elections officials to offer early
voting for at least six hours on a Saturday and a Sunday before
each statewide election. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "early voting," for the purposes of this bill, to mean
casting a vote by mail (VBM) ballot in person at the office of
the elections official or another location designated by the
elections official either before or on the day of the
election.
2)Requires each county elections official to offer early voting
for not less than six hours on at least one Saturday and one
Sunday prior to every statewide election pursuant to the
following:
a) Requires early voting to be offered on at least one
Saturday and one Sunday on or after the date the elections
official first delivers ballots to VBM voters for the
statewide election;
b) Requires every early voting location to be accessible
and to comply with disability access requirements under
federal and state law; and,
c) Permits the elections official to determine the hours of
operation for each early voting location, provided that
each location is open for a minimum of six hours on each
Saturday or Sunday that the location is open.
3)Provides that the requirement to offer early voting prior to
every statewide election does not apply to an election that is
conducted wholly by mail or to a precinct in which each voter
is furnished a VBM ballot.
4)Permits county elections officials to offer early voting at
elections that are not statewide elections based on voter
demand, subject to the same restrictions outlined above that
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apply to early voting locations at statewide elections.
5)Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to provide guidance to
local elections officials in accomplishing the following:
a) Establishing one or more locations for early voting,
which may include the office of the local elections
official;
b) Notifying voters of the early voting location or
locations; and,
c) Ensuring that the early voting location or locations and
the procedures used therein comply with disability access
requirements under federal and state law.
6)Declares the intent of the Legislature in enacting this bill
to make voting more convenient and accessible in order to
increase voter turnout at elections.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits any voter to cast a VBM ballot in person at the office
of the elections official beginning on the 29th day prior to
an election, until the close of polls on election day.
Provides, for the purposes of this provision, that the office
of the elections official may include satellite locations.
Requires advance public notice to be provided of any such
satellite location not later than 14 days prior to voting at
the satellite location, except as specified.
2)Permits, but does not require, elections officials to allow
voters to cast VBM ballots prior to an election at their
offices or satellite locations on weekends or at times beyond
regular office hours.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
reimbursement direction.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
In order to a have a thriving democracy all citizens
must exercise their right to vote. As a result, it is
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imperative that government makes the act of voting as
accessible as possible. Early voting is voting that
is takes place (usually on the weekend) before
election day. Voting on the weekend will give another
alternative to people who work and have difficulty
finding the time to vote on Tuesdays. AB 2177 would
require an election official on at least one Saturday
and Sunday before Election Day to allow voters to vote
in person at an easily accessible designated location.
Increasing participation will only help to strengthen
our democracy.
2)Early Voting Under Existing Law : Although existing state law
does not use the term "early voting," any California voter can
receive and cast a VBM ballot in the office of the elections
official beginning 29 days prior to election day and ending at
the close of the polls on election day. Additionally,
elections officials are permitted, but not required, to offer
early voting at "satellite locations" of the office of the
elections official, and may offer voting at their offices or
such "satellite locations" on weekends or at times beyond
regular office hours.
In fact, according to information from a survey of county
elections officials conducted by the Los Angeles County
Registrar of Voters and other information gathered by
committee staff, it appears that at least 28 counties,
representing 89% of registered voters in California, offered
early voting for at least one weekend day prior to the
November 2012 presidential general election. At least eleven
counties, representing more than 56% of registered voters in
California, provided weekend voting opportunities that would
have complied with the requirements of this bill. The
following table details the weekend early voting opportunities
that were provided in connection with the November 2012
presidential general election:
---------------------------------------------------------------
|County |Weekend Early Voting Opportunity at November 2012 |
| |election |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Alameda |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 9-5 at elections |
| |official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Butte |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at elections official's office |
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|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Contra |Sat. 11/3: 9-3 at elections official's office |
|Costa | |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Fresno |Sat. 11/3: 9-3 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Inyo |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 8-? at elections |
| |official's office (closing time not specified on |
| |survey) |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Kern |Sat. 11/3: 8-2 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Los Angeles |Sat. 10/27, Sun. 10/28, Sat. 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: |
| |8-4 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Madera |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at the elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Marin |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 9-1 at elections |
| |official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Monterey |Sat. 10/27, Sat. 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: 8-5 at |
| |elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Napa |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 8:30-4:30 at 5 different |
| |satellite locations |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Nevada |Sat. 11/3: 9-4 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Orange |Sat. 10/27, Sat. 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: 8-5 at |
| |elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Placer |Sat. 10/27, Sun. 10/28, Sat. 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: |
| |9-4 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Riverside |Sat. 10/27 & Sun. 10/28: 10-5 at elections |
| |official's office and 3 other satellite locations |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Sacramento |Sat. 11/3: 9-2 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|San |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at the elections official's office |
|Bernardino |and 1 satellite location |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|San Diego |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at the elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|San |Sat. 10/27, Sun. 10/28, Sat 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: |
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|Francisco |10-4 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|San Luis |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 9-1 at elections |
|Obispo |official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|San Mateo |Sat. 10/27 & Sat. 11/3: 10-3 at elections |
| |official's offices (2 locations) |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Santa |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at elections official's offices (3 |
|Barbara |locations) |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Santa Clara |Sat. 10/27, Sun. 10/28, Sat 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: |
| |9-3 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Santa Cruz |Sat. 11/3 & Sun. 11/4: 9-5 at elections |
| |official's office and 1 satellite location |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Solano |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Sonoma |Sat. 10/27, Sat. 11/3, & Sun. 11/4: 8-5 at |
| |elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Tehama |Sat. 11/3: 9-3 at elections official's office |
|------------+--------------------------------------------------|
|Tulare |Sat. 11/3: 8-5 at elections official's office |
---------------------------------------------------------------
3)Other States : According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, 33 states (including California) and the
District of Columbia permit any qualified voter to cast a
ballot in person during a designated period prior to election
day with no excuse or justification required. At least 12 of
the 33 early voting states require that early vote centers be
open on at least one Saturday or Sunday during the early
voting period, while others (including California) give local
officials the authority to determine the hours for early
voting.
4)Presidential Commission on Election Administration : On March
28, 2013, President Obama issued Executive Order 13639, which
established the Presidential Commission on Election
Administration (Commission), and instructed the Commission to
"identify best practices and otherwise make recommendations to
promote the efficient administration of elections in order to
ensure that all eligible voters have the opportunity to cast
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their ballots without undue delay, and to improve the
experience of voters facing other obstacles in casting their
ballots, such as members of the military, overseas voters,
voters with disabilities, and voters with limited English
proficiency." The Commission was co-chaired by Bob Bauer, the
general counsel to the President's reelection campaign in
2012, and by Ben Ginsberg, who served as national counsel to
Governor Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign in 2012. The
Commission held six months of public hearings, and met with
state and local elections officials, academic experts, and
many organizations involved in voting and election
administration. The Commission issued its final report in
January of this year, in which it made more than a dozen
unanimous recommendations for ways in which American elections
could be improved.
One of the recommendations made by the Commission was that
states should expand opportunities to vote before election
day. The Commission's report did not endorse any specific
manner in which early voting should be provided, and instead
noted that different states likely would prefer different
methods and time periods for early voting. The Commission's
report did not discuss or make any specific recommendations
about offering early voting opportunities on weekends.
5)Arguments in Support : The sponsor of this bill, Service
Employees International Union, Local 1000, writes in support:
Expanding early voting will allow voters who may have
busy schedules due to work or other reasons more
opportunities to vote. Statistics in states that
allow expanded early voting in person show that over
the past three election cycles voter turnout is much
higher. In the State of Nevada which not only allows
widespread early voting but promotes it had a turnout
of 70% in the last three voting cycles. This was true
in nearly every state that allowed widespread early
voting. California's turnout in the last three cycles
all of which were highly competitive averaged 54%.
Recently California had a number of special
legislative elections with turnouts averaging less
than 12%. Promoting, expanding early voting and
allowing weekend voting will increase turnout.
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6)Arguments in Opposition : In opposition to this bill, the
Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) writes:
While RCRC is very sympathetic to implementing
early-voting opportunities, putting many of these
options into place can be challenging in rural,
low-population counties. AB 2177 would require an
elections official, on at least one Saturday, on or
after the date the elections official first delivers
ballots to vote-by-mail voters, to allow voters to
cast their absentee ballots in person at a designated
official polling place. In many rural counties with
minimal election staff this would be problematic.
Many rural county elections officials use the
Saturdays in the 29 days before the election to work
on other election-related activities. It is typical
for officials to use one weekend to perform
state-mandated testing and the other for vote-by-mail
processing. Many of these activities must be done on
the weekends in order to comply with state and federal
election deadlines.
In addition, we are concerned about the elections
mandates associated with AB 2177. By requiring local
elections officials to perform additional duties, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program. We
are concerned about recent elections reimbursement
mandates being suspended in recent state budgets. We
remain concerned about implementing elections-related
laws that voters come to expect, and in subsequent
years, state funding is eliminated.
7)State Mandates : The last three state budgets have suspended
various state mandates as a mechanism for cost savings. Among
the mandates that were suspended were all existing
elections-related mandates. All the existing elections-related
mandates have been proposed for suspension again by the
Governor in his budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
This bill adds another elections-related mandate by requiring
county elections officials to offer early voting for at least
six hours on a Saturday and on a Sunday prior to each
statewide election. As noted above, many counties already
offer early voting on the weekend prior to statewide
elections. By requiring counties to offer early voting
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opportunities on the weekend, the state could be required to
reimburse all counties-including those that are already
offering early voting opportunities on the weekend-for the
costs associated with those early voting opportunities. The
Committee may wish to consider whether it is desirable to
create new election mandates when current elections-related
mandates are suspended.
8)Previous Legislation : This bill is similar to SB 637 (Yee) of
the 2013-14 Legislative Session. SB 637 was held on the
Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file, and died when
it failed to pass out of the Senate by January 31 of this
year, in accordance with to Article IV, Section 10 (c) of the
California Constitution.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (sponsor)
American Association of University Women - California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
Service Employees International Union, California State Council
Opposition
Rural County Representatives of California
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094