BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2631
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 2631 (Dababneh) - As Amended:  April 9, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill updates the statutory definition of voting machine and  
          updates or repeals various code sections to reflect the  
          discontinued use of lever voting machines. Specifically, this  
          bill:

          1)Updates the definition of a voting machine to mean any  
            electronic device including, but not limited to, a precinct  
            optical scanner and a direct recording electronic (DRE) voting  
            system, into which a voter may enter his or her votes, and  
            which, by means of electronic tabulation and generation of  
            printouts or other tangible, human-readable records, furnishes  
            a total of the number of votes cast for each candidate and for  
            or against each measure.   

          2)Clarifies and modifies provisions of law allowing any voter  
            using a vote by mail (VBM) ballot, prior to the close of the  
            polls on election day, to vote the ballot at an election  
            official's office or satellite office, and requires an  
            elections official, where DRE voting systems are used, to  
            provide sufficient DREs to include all ballot types in the  
            election.  

          3)Modifies and repeals precinct board requirements and  
            procedures related to the poll closing, including requiring  
            the precinct board, following the locking of each machine, to  
            generate at least three copies of a statement of return of  
            votes cast.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact.








                                                                  AB 2631
                                                                  Page  2


           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  . First introduced in the 1890s, by 1930 mechanical  
            lever machines had been installed in virtually every major  
            city in the country, and by the 1960s well over half of the  
            nation's votes were being cast on these machines. These  
            machines are no longer made, and are no longer used in  
            California elections.

           2)Purpose  . This bill updates the definition of a voting machine  
            to eliminate references of lever machines and instead reflect  
            modern voting systems. Second, the bill makes corresponding  
            changes to Elections Code provisions regarding the procedures  
            and equipment used in elections. Third, this bill clarifies  
            and updates corresponding code sections where the term voting  
            machine is used.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081