BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS Senator Lou Correa, Chair BILL NO: SB 113 HEARING DATE: 4/2/13 AUTHOR: JACKSON ANALYSIS BY: DARREN CHESIN AMENDED: AS INTRODUCED FISCAL: YES SUBJECT Voter registration: preregistration of 15, 16, and 17 year-olds DESCRIPTION Existing law permits a person who is a United States citizen, a resident of California, not in prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony, and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election to register to vote. Existing law , pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), in part requires states to implement a statewide voter registration database, as specified. Existing law also permits a person who is at least 17 years of age and who otherwise meets all eligibility requirements to vote to submit his or her affidavit of registration. Such a properly executed registration is deemed effective as of the date that the affiant will be 18 years of age, provided that the information in the affidavit of registration is still current at that time. The registrant must provide current information to the county elections official before the registration becomes effective if the information in the current affidavit is incorrect. Existing law provides that the provisions regarding preregistration of 17 year-olds become operative only if the Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with the requirements of HAVA. Existing law requires the local registrar of births and deaths to notify the county elections official monthly of all deceased persons 17 years of age and over whose deaths were registered with him or her or of whose deaths he or she was notified by the state registrar of vital statistics. This bill would lower the minimum age for purposes of submitting an affidavit of registration pursuant to these provisions from 17 to 15 years of age. This bill would make conforming changes to other related provisions of existing law and would provide that this change will become operative on January 1, 2014 and therefore not be contingent upon certification of a HAVA compliant statewide voter registration database. BACKGROUND Other States . According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the following 14 states permit voter registration before the age of 18, but none prior to 16 (and none permit voting until the age of 18): Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. NCSL also reports that the following 12 states permit 17 year-olds to vote in the primary election (presidential caucuses in Iowa) if the voter will turn 18 before the general election: Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Vermont, and Virginia. VoteCal Status . The SOS has been in the process of implementing a new statewide voter registration database for several years, as required by the Federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. After difficulties with the prior vendor and the termination of that contract, the SOS recently announced the selection of a new contractor to develop the new VoteCal statewide voter registration database. The Department of General Services approved the contract on March 6, 2013. The SOS estimates that VoteCal will be fully implemented by 2016. COMMENTS SB 113 (JACKSON) Page 2 1.According to the author , SB 113 would allow a person to preregister to vote beginning at age 15, an age when young people typically interact with state government for the first time when they get their driver's permit at the Department of Motor Vehicles. SB 113 accelerates a provision in existing law that would allow 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote and expands it to include 15- and 16-year-olds. Since 1995, the federal Motor Voter Law has required states to allow voter registration when applying for a driver's license. Nearly one-quarter of all Californians who are eligible to vote are not registered to vote. Participation is even lower among young voters, with only half of eligible voters registered. In 2010, youth in the state made up 14.2% of the population, but only 9.1% of registered voters. Studies have shown that the earlier people are introduced to voting, the more likely they are to become life-long participants in democracy. Preregistration allows young people receiving high school civics education the opportunity to take concrete steps towards becoming future voters. Numerous studies have shown that when young voters are registered they turn out in high numbers. A 2009 George Mason University study found that pre-registration programs in Hawaii and Florida encouraged young people to start voting and keep voting. SB 113 would not change the voting age, which is 18. But it would allow youth to preregister to vote either online, by mail, or at the DMV, beginning at age 15. Assuming they meet all eligibility requirements, once they turn 18, their registration would become active. Prior to their first election, county elections officials will be encouraged to mail each pre-registrant a card to confirm that they still wish to be registered to vote at the address on their original application. Addresses and other changes can easily be updated online, at the DMV using an address change form, or by mail. SB 113 (JACKSON) Page 3 2.But Will It Work Here ? According to the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO), existing voter registration systems operated at the county level have no way to administer preregistration. CACEO further states that without a way to electronically manage preregistrations, counties will be at risk of erroneously qualifying an illegible registrant to receive a ballot or sign a petition, or failing to keep the early registrant's "current information" that is normally obtained via a pre-election address confirmation or USPS data. However, SOS staff insists that both DFM and DIMS, the two predominant election management systems used by California counties can accommodate preregistration by utilizing "pending folders." CACEO counters that staff who work with the files maintain that it does not work when a voter has more than one pend code and these voters will have multiple pend codes. 3.Related Legislation . ACA 7(Mullin), which is pending in the Assembly, would permit an otherwise eligible elector who is 17 years old and will be at least 18 years of age at the time of the next general election to register to vote and vote in any intervening primary or special election that occurs after the person registers to vote. POSITIONS Sponsor: Secretary of State Support: California Common Cause California State Council of the Service Employees International Union CALPIRG Rock the Vote FairVote, The Center for Voting and Democracy UCSB College Republicans Vote Latino Oppose: Numerous individuals SB 113 (JACKSON) Page 4 SB 113 (JACKSON) Page 5