BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 240
AUTHOR: Yee
AMENDED: January 6, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: January 15,
2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
NOTE : This bill was heard in this Committee on April 17,
2013. Testimony
was provided but no vote was taken. This bill
has since been
amended.
SUBJECT : Vote by mail drop boxes: public higher education
campuses.
SUMMARY
This bill requires county elections officials to establish
at least one vote by mail ballot drop box on every campus
of the California State University and the University of
California, and consider establishing at least one drop box
on each community college campus.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Requires all vote by mail (VBM) ballots to be voted on
or before the day of the election. After marking the
ballot, the VBM voter must either (1) return the
ballot by mail or in person to the elections official
from whom it came or (2) return the ballot in person
to a member of a precinct board at a polling place
within the jurisdiction.
2) Authorizes a VBM voter who is unable to return the
ballot to designate his or her spouse, child, parent,
grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or a person
residing in the same household as the VBM voter to
return the ballot to the elections official from whom
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it came or to the precinct board at a polling place
within the jurisdiction.
3) Prohibits a ballot from being counted if it is not
delivered in compliance with the aforementioned
sections.
4) Requires elections officials to establish procedures
to ensure the secrecy of a VBM ballot returned to a
precinct polling place and the security,
confidentiality, and integrity of any related personal
information collected, stored, or otherwise used.
(Elections Code � 3017)
5) County elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting, and authorizes
county elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting on Election Day.
(Elections Code � 2170)
According to the Senate Elections and Constitutional
Amendments Committee, an unknown number of counties
currently establish VBM drop-off sites although existing
law does not specifically address them (this bill provides
for the establishment of ballot drop boxes). Sacramento
County designates facilities throughout the county where
voters can drop-off their ballots prior to Election Day.
The county requires that all facilities must be accessible
to voters with disabilities and have at least one person
monitor the station. Sites include facilities such as city
halls, county departments, assisted living facilities,
local businesses, non-profit and community organizations,
and facilities that already serve as polling places on
Election Day. A list of the VBM drop-off sites is included
in Sacramento County's sample ballot booklets. The
Sacramento County system is designed so that a voter or
someone designated by the voter must hand their voted VBM
ballot to the person monitoring the drop-off site.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires county elections officials to establish
at least one vote by mail drop box on every campus of the
California State University and the University of
California, and consider establishing at least one drop box
on each community college campus. Specifically, this bill:
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1) Requires, for each statewide general and primary
election, the county elections official to do both of
the following:
a) Establish at least one vote by
mail (VBM) drop box within each campus of the
California State University (CSU) and the
University of California (UC) within the county.
b) Consider establishing at least one
VBM drop box within each California community
college (CCC) within the county, and establish
that drop box if the elections official
determines a drop box at the college would be
convenient for voters.
2) Exempts from the provisions of this bill counties with
a population of fewer than 150,000 people.
3) Requires the CSU and CCC to provide access for use of
their campuses as a VBM drop box site, and requests
the UC to do the same. This bill provides that it
does not apply to a campus of the UC if the campus
refuses a request for access to the campus as a VBM
drop box site.
4) Defines vote by mail (VBM) ballot drop box as a secure
receptacle established by a county (or city and
county) elections official whereby a
5) voted VBM ballot may be returned to the elections
official from whom it was obtained.
6) Requires the Secretary of State to assist elections
officials by providing recommendations and guidelines
regarding the placement and security of VBM ballot
drop boxes.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Why is this bill back ? Prior versions of this bill
required county elections officials to establish a
polling place on every campus of the California State
University and University of California. This bill
was heard in this Committee on April 17, 2013.
Testimony was provided but no vote was taken. At that
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time, the author agreed to allow SB 267 (Pavley),
which contained similar provisions, to proceed rather
than using this bill as a vehicle for the issue. SB
267 was subsequently amended to relate to Proposition
39 implementation.
2) Need for the bill . According to information
provided by the author to the Senate Elections and
Constitutional Amendments Committee, "While in
college, many students will be voting for the first
time. Together with online voter registration,
students can effortlessly register or reregister to
vote with their new address, request a vote by mail
ballot, and drop off the completed ballot on campus.
As more voters turn to the convenience of voting by
mail, elections officials look at options to encourage
voters to return their ballots in time. Several cities
and counties in California already utilize ballot drop
boxes at various locations to allow voters to return
their ballots without the need to pay a postage fee.
By extending this type of convenience to UC and CSU
campuses, it would encourage students, faculty, staff,
and neighbors to return their vote by mail ballot,
without any added cost."
3) Amendments . The author wishes to amend this bill
to reference "drop-off locations" rather than "drop
boxes" and to remove the small county exemption.
The following amendments were recommended by the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee,
which the author agreed to accept:
a) Address security concerns by
adding "A drop-off location shall consist of a
secured vote by mail ballot box, staffed by at
least one individual appointed by the elections
official, that allows return envelopes, once
deposited, to only be removed by persons
appointed by the elections official. The
placement and security of each drop-off location
shall be determined by the elections official, in
accordance with guidelines by the Secretary of
State. A drop-off location located outdoors must
be constructed of durable material able to
withstand inclement weather. During non-business
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hours or when staff is not available, a vote by
mail ballot box must be placed in a locked and
secure location. From no more than 29 days prior
to Election Day until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day,
two people who are appointed by the elections
official must empty each ballot drop-off box with
sufficient frequency to prevent damage and
unauthorized access to the ballots. Vote by mail
ballot drop boxes must be locked and sealed at
all times, with seal logs that document each time
the box is opened, by whom, and the number of
ballots removed. Ballots must be placed into
sealed transport carriers and returned to the
elections official's office or another designated
location. At 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, all
ballot drop-off boxes must be emptied or sealed
to prevent the deposit of additional ballots."
b) Amend Elections Code � 3017 to
specify that VBM ballot drop-off locations
legally constitute returning the ballot in person
to the elections official from whom it came.
In addition, Senator Anderson indicated during the
Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments
Committee hearing that he would like to be removed as
a co-author.
4) Belts and suspenders . According to the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee,
nine of the ten campuses of the University of
California, and 16 of 23 campuses of the California
State University, had polling places in the November
2012 election. Considering that most public
university campuses have polling places, is it
necessary to also provide a vote by mail (VBM) ballot
drop box on those campuses?
5) Out-of-county voters . Vote by mail (VBM) ballots
must be returned by mail or in person to the elections
official from whom it came or returned in person to a
member of a precinct board at a polling place within
the county. Counties are not currently required to
forward VBM ballots to their county of origin. The
author has agreed to amendments that require drop-off
locations to be staffed by at least one individual
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appointed by the elections official, which should
reduce the possibility that students who are
registered to vote in a county other than in which the
university campus is located could deposit an
out-of-county VBM ballot in a drop box.
6) Primary elections . This bill requires elections
officials to establish at least one VBM drop box on
public college campuses for each statewide general and
primary election. Is it prudent to require drop boxes
on college campuses at times when few students may be
on campus?
7) Prior legislation . AB 346 (Atkins, 2011) would
have required county elections officials to establish
at least one polling place for each state election on
a campus of a CCC, CSU and UC within their respective
counties. AB 346 failed passage in the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee on
2-3 vote on June 21, 2011.
SUPPORT
None on file.
OPPOSITION
None on file.