BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1061
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: block
VERSION: 3/28/14
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 8, 2014
SUBJECT:
Voter registration: driver's license applications
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in
consultation with the Secretary of State (SOS), to revise its
application for a driver's license, instruction permit, junior
permit, or identification card to include provisions to
automatically register an individual to vote, unless the
individual opts out. This bill also requires DMV to submit the
driver's license application of any individual who is eligible
to vote, but is not currently registered to vote, to the
elections official of the county in which the individual lives.
ANALYSIS:
On May 20, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the National
Voter Registration Act (NVRA), also known as the "Motor Voter
Act," with an effective date of January 1, 1995. The intent of
NVRA was to enhance and increase voting opportunities for
eligible voters to register to vote and to maintain their
registration. In addition to other voter registration methods,
NVRA required states to provide the opportunity to register to
vote through various methods, including at motor vehicle
agencies, by mail-in application, and by designating "other
offices" within the state as voter registration agencies. In
addition to expanding opportunities to register to vote, NVRA
imposed requirements on states to protect the integrity of the
electoral process and ensure that states maintain accurate and
current voter registration rolls.
On August 12, 1994, Governor Pete Wilson issued Executive Order
W-98-94 directing state and local agencies to implement NVRA
only to the extent that federal funding is available.
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When NVRA took effect in 1995, several states failed to take the
steps necessary to comply with the law, and several challenged
the constitutionality of the federal mandate. Nine states,
including California, were involved in the first round of cases.
The federal district court in San Jose ruled that California
was obligated to implement NVRA and ordered the state to submit
an implementation plan to the court for review to ensure
conformity with NVRA requirements.
The plan the state submitted would have brought California into
compliance with NVRA, with one exception: the method by which an
individual may register to vote at the DMV. NVRA explicitly
requires DMV to use a driver's license or identification
application as a voter registration application and prohibits
DMV from duplicating any information already required on the
driver's license form, except for other information necessary to
determine an individual's eligibility to register to vote.
Similarly, federal law requires a DMV change of address form to
serve as a notification of a change in address for voter
registration, unless the individual indicates otherwise.
California's court-approved implementation plan called for a
two-page application: one page for the driver's license
application and one page for the voter registration form, and so
was not in compliance with federal law.
Thus, pursuant to the court-approved settlement, every
individual who applies for or renews a California driver's
license or identification card, or changes his or her address,
receives a voter registration card. The applicant can use the
card to register to vote or to re-register after a change in
name, address, or party preference. When a voter updates his or
her address with a DMV office, the DMV electronically transmits
the new address to the SOS statewide voter registration
database. SOS then shares this information with county
elections officials, who update voter registration records.
When a voter moves to a new county, DMV instructs him or her to
complete a new voter registration card; DMV accepts the
completed card and forwards it to SOS or the county in which the
voter resides.
This bill :
Requires an application for a new or renewed California
driver's license, instruction permit, junior permit, or
identification card (hereafter referred to as driver's
license) to:
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o Request information to establish whether the applicant
satisfies statutory voter registration requirements;
o Include a method by which the applicant shall indicate
whether he or she is currently registered to vote;
o Include a statement that, if the applicant satisfies
statutory voter registration requirements, and provides
written consent by signing the statement, he or she shall
be registered to vote;
o Include a method by which the applicant may decline to
be registered to vote; and
o Request other information required by state or federal
law in order to be registered to vote.
Requires DMV to transmit an electronic copy of the completed
driver's license application to the county elections official
for the county in which the applicant resides, if all of the
following are satisfied:
o The applicant has fully completed the application;
o The applicant has provided sufficient information on the
application to indicate that he or she satisfies voter
registration requirements;
o The applicant has not indicated on the application that
he or she is currently registered to vote; and
o The applicant has provided written consent to be
registered to vote by signing the statement on the
application.
Requires DMV to redact any information that is not required
for voter registration from the electronic copy of the
application it transmits to the county elections official.
Requires DMV to comply with applicable federal and state laws
relating to privacy and confidentiality of the information
collected and to collect only the information necessary to
implement this bill; prohibits DMV from sharing the
information with another agency or individual other than for a
purpose directly related to voter registration.
Requires DMV, by July 1, 2015, to confer with SOS to develop a
new driver's license application pursuant to this bill.
Requires DMV and SOS to develop a process and infrastructure
to transmit electronically the driver's license application,
with any information not required for voter registration
redacted, to county elections officials.
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Requires DMV to require a digitized signature on each
California driver's license application and to provide the
digitized signature to SOS for any applicant who does not opt
out of voter registration or does not indicate he or she is
currently registered to vote.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author states that California ranks 48th among
the states in voting participation; nearly one quarter of
California's eligible voters are not registered to vote. The
author further states that many individuals who are eligible
to vote also qualify for a driver's license. The voter
registration application requires the same information as a
driver's license application, yet DMV requires applicants to
provide duplicate information on separate forms. The author
states that by creating a single form for both voter
registration and DMV purposes, this bill will modernize
California's voter registration system, make it easier for
hard-to-reach populations-especially youth-to register to
vote, and reduce the amount of registration paperwork
processed by counties.
2.Privacy concerns . While the driver's license application and
the voter registration form require some of the same
information, the driver's license application includes
additional information, such as a question relating to whether
the individual has experienced any medical conditions in the
past five years that could affect his or her ability to safely
operate a motor vehicle. The author recently amended this
bill to address this concern by requiring DMV to redact any
information that is not required to register to vote, before
transmitting the application to elections officials. This
requirement will, however, create additional workload for DMV
staff.
3.What about AB 60 ? AB 60 (Alejo), Chapter 524, Statutes of
2013, requires DMV, beginning next year, to issue a driver's
license to an individual who is ineligible for a social
security number if the individual can provide additional
documentation, as specified. Pursuant to the federal REAL ID
Act, "driving privilege only" (DP) licenses, such as AB 60
authorizes, cannot be used for identification purposes. An
individual must be able to establish proof of identity and of
legal presence in the U.S. in order to obtain a DP license,
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but does not have to be a U.S. citizen. DMV is currently in
the process of implementing AB 60 and expects to begin issuing
DP licenses in January 2015. Because an individual does not
have to be a U.S. citizen in order to obtain a DP license,
many individuals who apply for a DP license will not be
eligible to vote. To register to vote in California, an
individual must be a U.S. citizen, a California resident, 18
years or older on election day, not in prison or on parole,
and not found by a court to be mentally incompetent.
4.DMV workload . This bill requires DMV to transmit the driver's
license application of any individual who has indicated on the
application that he or she is eligible to register to vote or
is already registered to vote (unless the individual declines)
and who has provided sufficient information to indicate that
he or she satisfies voter registration requirements. An
individual who is applying for a DP license may not know if he
or she is eligible to vote. In that case, the individual
might ask for assistance-not only creating more work for DMV
field office staff, but also potentially placing DMV in the
role of elections official. Alternatively, the individual
might sign the form, believing himself or herself eligible to
vote; DMV would then transmit the signed application to the
county elections official, who would deem the individual
ineligible. Although this bill requires the county elections
official to send a specified notice to a voter it deems
eligible, it does not specify how the county elections
official should address voters it deems ineligible. The
committee may wish to consider amending this bill to simply
require DMV to transmit all applications to county elections
officials, rather than placing DMV in the position of having
to determine which are eligible for voter registration. The
committee may also wish to consider amending this bill to
require county elections officials to send a notice to an
individual they deem not eligible to vote, based on his or her
application. Alternatively, the latter issue may best be
resolved when the Elections Committee hears this bill.
5.What about party preference ? This bill requires individuals
registered to vote pursuant to this bill to be registered as
"no party preference" (NPP). While this bill requires the
county elections official to send a notification to the
individual stating that he or she has been registered as NPP,
it does not require the DMV application to include a statement
regarding NPP. This requirement appears to prevent
individuals from registering with a specific party if they
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wish to do so. It also potentially creates more paperwork for
county elections officials by forcing the individual to
subsequently file to change his or her party registration if
he or she wishes to register with a particular party. The
author recently amended this bill to provide for preserving
the party preference of an individual who is updating his or
her voter registration, but the amendments do not appear to
address individuals registering to vote for the first time.
The committee may wish to consider amending this bill to
require the new driver's license application to include a
party preference option.
6.Double-referral . The Rules Committee referred this bill to
this committee and to the Committee on Elections and
Constitutional Amendments. This committee will primarily
focus on the DMV-related provisions of this bill, leaving the
Elections Committee to review the Elections Code provisions.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
SB 361 (Padilla) requires the DMV, the California Community
Colleges, the California State University, and NVRA-designated
voter registration agencies to allow customers, students, and
clients, respectively, to submit voter registration forms
electronically to SOS one year after SOS certifies that the
state has a statewide voter registration database in compliance
with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. SB 361 is on
the Assembly Appropriations suspense file.
SB 113 (Jackson), which the Senate passed in January and is now
pending hearing in the Assembly, expands the voter
pre-registration program to authorize 16-year-olds to
pre-register to vote (currently 17-year-olds can be
pre-registered).
AB 1122 (Levine) which the Assembly Appropriations Committee
held on the suspense file, would have required DMV, in
coordination with the Secretary of State, to take additional
steps to fully implement and further comply with NVRA.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 2,
2014.)
SUPPORT: American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees
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Courage Campaign
Fair Elections Legal Network
National Center for Lesbian Rights
OPPOSED: Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association