BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1316
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 1, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 1316 (Harkey) - As Amended:  April 16, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              ElectionsVote:7-0

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

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Eliminates the practice of permitting candidates to select a  
            number to be printed alongside their name on ballot materials  
            if a candidate with a similar name files for the same office,  
            and instead requires the elections official to assign a number  
            to candidates and requires the ballot order of the candidates  
            to be chosen at random.  

          2)Eliminates the current requirement that, under the  
            circumstance in (1), candidates' distinguishing numbers and  
            certain warning language must be printed in boldface type.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs to counties are state-reimbursable, but should be  
          negligible, as the bill address a relatively rare occurrence.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Ballot Procedure  . According to the author, when identically-  
            or similarly-named candidates are on the ballot, current law  
            does not state which numbers are eligible to be placed next to  
            the names of each candidate. The City of San Clemente  
            experienced difficulty when two candidates, who currently may  
            choose their own number, began using this process to vie for  
            preferred placement on the ballot, bringing up questions  
            pertaining to negative numbers, a number's length, or whether  
            or not 0 is a number. AB 1316 specifies a clear process, to be  
            conducted by the elections official, when this situation  
            occurs on a ballot.








                                                                  AB 1316
                                                                  Page  2

           
          2)Printing in Boldface  . Current law requires the elections  
            official, whenever there are two candidates with similar or  
            identical names, to print a number that distinguishes one  
            candidate from the other, in large boldface type to the left  
            of the candidates name on the ballot.  In addition to printing  
            the number next to the candidate's name, a warning message is  
            also required to be prominently printed in boldface type  
            preceding the candidates' names. Some equipment used for the  
            printing of election materials does not accommodate boldface  
            typesetting or varying font sizes, thus counties facing this  
            requirement for the first time may face additional expenses.  
            This measure removes the requirement that large and boldface  
            type be used to print numbers and warning messages on sample  
            ballots, ballot pamphlets, or other mailings sent by the  
            elections official prior to the election.
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081