BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 637 (Yee) - Early voting
Amended: June 25, 2013 Policy Vote: E&CA 4-1
Urgency: Yes Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: January 21, 2014
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 637 requires every county elections official
to provide early voting on at least one Saturday prior to a
statewide election.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, but potentially $500,000 annually in state
reimbursable costs in years where two statewide elections
are held (General Fund)
Unknown, potentially significant costs to notify voters of
the Saturday voting opportunity. (General Fund)
Minor, absorbable costs to Secretary of State (General
Fund)
County elections officials will incur substantial reimbursable
state-mandated costs for providing early voting opportunities on
at least one Saturday prior to every statewide election for
staff, facility expenses, and materials. Staffing costs will be
dependent on the number of voters who choose to participate in
early voting. If each county incurs expenses totaling $5,000
for every statewide election, costs would be approximately
$580,000 for years when two statewide elections are conducted.
These costs will be considerably higher if larger counties opt
to have multiple Saturday voting locations, or if any county
chooses to extend the early voting hours beyond the 4 hour
minimum required in the bill. Additionally, there could be
substantial costs to notify voters about the new Saturday voting
option depending on how that notification is provided. A
separate mailing would be very costly; however, posting the
information on the county website would result in minimal costs.
Background: After the November 6, 2012 Statewide General
SB 637 (Yee)
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Election, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters conducted a
survey of county elections officials regarding voluntary
Saturday voting in which 41 counties responded. That survey
indicated that 25 counties representing over 82% of all
statewide registered voters provided voters the opportunity to
cast ballots during one or more Saturdays prior to that
election. The actual number of hours each county provided early
voting opportunities to voters varied. For instance, Los
Angeles County opened its headquarter office for in-person early
voting both Saturday and Sunday the two weekends prior to the
election, while others were open one Saturday only for durations
that varied between four and eight hours.
Proposed Law: SB 637 requires every county elections official
to provide a means for early voting on at least one Saturday on
or after the date the vote by mail ballots are delivered for a
statewide election, or for any other election as determined by
the elections official based on voter demand.
SB 637 allows the elections officials to determine the hours of
operation provided that each early voting location is open for a
minimum of four hours on each designated Saturday.
SB 637 requires the Secretary of State to assist local elections
officials with 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 locations comply with federal and
state disability access requirements.
Elections that are conducted wholly by mail will not be included
in the mandate for Saturday early voting.
Staff Comments: While many counties may already be voluntarily
conducting early voting opportunities on weekends prior to
elections, those costs are currently borne by individual
counties. Since SB 637 will impose a state-mandated local
program, the state will be required to reimburse counties for
these costs from the General Fund.
SB 637 (Yee)
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Recommended Amendments: A technical amendment is needed on page
3, line 5 to strike the word "local" and insert "county". The
definition of elections official in Elections Code Section 320
includes city clerks, and this bill is intended to apply to
elections officials at the county level.