BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1061 (Block) - Voter Registration
Amended: April 10, 2014 Policy Vote: Trans 8-3, E&CA 4-1
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 5, 2014 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1061 establishes a method for voter
registration when an individual applies for a new or renewed
driver's license or California identification card.
Fiscal Impact:
Potentially $200,000-$300,000 annually to the Department of
Motor Vehicles (Special/General)
Unknown, costs to county elections officials (General)
One-time costs of $350,000 to the Secretary of State.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is still in the process
of completing a fiscal analysis at the time of this writing,
however, preliminary estimates are several hundred thousand
dollars annually related to increased field office processing,
the redaction of personal information on the application form,
and transmitting the forms to the county elections officials.
It is not clear where these funds will come from as it is
unlikely that the Motor Vehicle Account will be able to be used
for voter registration purposes. Consequently, these costs may
need to be funded out of the General Fund.
The Secretary of State will incur one-time costs of $350,000 for
the development, testing, and the building of interfaces with
DMV, VoteCal, and county election management systems.
Background: The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) became
effective January 1, 1995 in order to enhance and increase
voting opportunities for eligible voters. The NVRA required
states to provide the opportunity to register to vote through
various methods, including at motor vehicle agencies.
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Additionally, NVRA imposed requirements on states to protect the
integrity of the electoral process and ensure that states
maintain accurate and current voter registration rolls.
Proposed Law: SB 1061 requires an application for a new or
renewed California driver's license, instruction permit, junior
permit, or identification card to:
a) Request information to establish whether the applicant
satisfies statutory voter registration requirements.
b) Include a method by which the applicant shall indicate
whether he or she is currently registered to vote.
c) 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, or pre-registered to vote if the individual is under
age 18.
d) Include a method by which the applicant may decline to be
registered to vote.
e) Contain a method on the application to indicate party
preference.
f) Request any other information required by state or federal
law in order to be registered to vote.
SB 1061 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit an
electronic copy of the completed new or renewed driver's license
application to the county elections official for the county in
which the applicant resides if the application is fully
completed, the applicant has not indicated that he or she is
already registered to vote, and the applicant has provided
written consent by signing the application. The DMV will be
required to redact any information that is not required for
voter registration from the electronic copy of the application
that is transmitted to the county elections official.
SB 1061 requires the DMV, in consultation with the Secretary of
State (SOS), to develop a new driver's application form that
includes the information required for voter registration. The
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DMV and SOS will be required to develop a process and the
infrastructure to allow the electronic copy of the applicant's
completed application for a new or renewed driver's license to
be transmitted to the county elections official.
Staff Comments: Currently, 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.
If a voter updates his or her address with a DMV office, the new
address is electronically transmitted to the SOS statewide voter
registration database, and the SOS then shares the information
with county elections officials.
SB 1061 is intended to conform the voter registration
application process at the DMV to the standards of the National
Voter Registration Act. Specifically the Act requires states to
provide an application for a driver's license or state
identification card that will serve as an application for voter
registration in a manner that doesn't require the applicant to
duplicate any information already provided on the form. This
bill will allow a person to register to vote when at the DMV
office, by using a combined form that can be used to apply for a
driver's license or identification card and for registering to
vote in accordance with federal law. It will also require the
application to be sent electronically to the county elections
official instead of through the postal service.
Staff notes that to be valid, the voter registration card must
include the signature of the voter indicating they certify under
penalty of perjury that the information on the card is accurate.
SB 1061 provides that a person who is not currently registered
to vote and properly completes an application for a new or
renewed California driver's license, instruction permit, junior
permit, or identification card and who will not be 18 years of
age at the time of the next election, but others satisfies the
requirements to be registered to vote, shall be automatically
registered to vote at the time that he or she will be 18 years
of age, as specified. This essentially provides for
pre-registration of voters and could be interpreted to allow the
voter pre-registration of 14, 15, and 16 year olds if they apply
to register to vote through the DMV. However, the bill fails to
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amend existing code sections that allow for 17 year olds to
register to vote by affidavit of registration after the
implementation of the statewide voter registration database,
VoteCal. SB 113 (Jackson), currently pending the Assembly, will
allow the pre-registration of 16 year olds. Having different
age thresholds depending on where an individual pre-registers to
vote will undoubtedly result in confusion, and will add
increased costs if the pre-registration provision in SB 1061 is
not contingent upon the enactment of VoteCal.
Recommended Amendments: It is staff understanding that the
author will amend this bill to ensure that the combined form
which will be used as an application for a driver's
license/identification card AND a voter registration card will
include all of the information that is required on the affidavit
of registration.