BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 240
AUTHOR: Yee
AMENDED: April 11, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 17, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and
Elections and Constitutional Amendments. A "do pass"
motion should include
referral to the Committee on Elections and Constitutional
Amendments.
SUBJECT : Polling places: higher education campuses.
SUMMARY
This bill requires county elections officials to establish
at least one polling place on every campus of the
California State University and the University of
California, and consider establishing at least one polling
place on each community college campus.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires:
1) An elections official to, among other things,
establish a convenient number of election precincts
within the affected jurisdiction, define the precinct
boundaries, and designate a polling place for each
precinct at least 29 days prior to the election.
(Elections Code § 12286)
2) An elections official to undertake necessary measures
in the locating of polling places to ensure that
polling places meet the guidelines promulgated by the
Secretary of State for accessibility by the physically
handicapped. (Elections Code § 12280)
3) A precinct boundary to be fixed in a manner so that
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the number of voters in the precinct does not exceed
1.000 on the 88th day prior to the day of election.
Elections officials are authorized to subtract the
number of permanent vote by mail voters from the total
number of voters to reach the threshold of 1,000
voters. (Elections Code § 12223)
4) Requires school districts to allow the use of school
buildings for polling places if a city or county
elections official makes such a request.
(Elections Code § 12283)
5) County elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting, and authorizes
county elections officials to offer conditional voter
registration and provisional voting on election day.
(Elections Code § 2170)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires county elections officials to establish
at least one polling place on every campus of the
California State University and the University of
California, and consider establishing at least one polling
place on each community college campus. Specifically, this
bill:
1) Requires, for each statewide general and primary
election, the county elections official to do both of
the following:
a) Establish at least one polling
place within each campus of the California State
University (CSU) and the University of California
(UC) within the county.
b) Consider establishing at least one
polling place within each community college (CCC)
within the county, and establish that polling
place if the elections official determines a
polling place at the college would be convenient
for voters.
2) Exempts from the provisions of this bill counties with
a population of fewer than 150,000 people.
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3) Requires the CSU and CCC to provide access for use of
their campuses as polling places, and requests the UC
to do the same. This bill provides that it does not
apply to a campus of the UC if the campus refuses a
request for access to the campus as a polling place.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "In 2011,
Senate Bill 397 was passed to allow citizens to
register to vote via the internet or mobile device.
On September 19, 2012, California launched its online
voter registration system and saw immediate success.
SB 240 ensure that young voters' voices are heard at
the ballot box by placing at least one polling place
at every University of California and California State
University campus. While in college, many students
will be voting for the first time. Together with
online voter registration, students can effortlessly
register to vote, and on Election Day have convenient
and easy access to a p9olling place on their
university or college campus."
2) What's the problem ? According to information provided
by the author's office, nine of the ten campuses of
the University of California, and 16 of 23 campuses of
the California State University, had polling places in
the November 2012 election. According to a news
article quoting the registrar of voters for Riverside
County relative to the reason a polling place was not
placed on the UC Riverside campus, "One of the reasons
for not selecting the college as a polling place was
due to the high number of commuter students. Commuter
college students who live in a different county or
city are required to cast a provisional ballot.
Parking issues for voters who do not attend the
college was also a concern."
3) Removes discretion of county elections officials .
This bill requires elections officials to locate a
polling place on public college campuses regardless of
a determination by county elections officials as to
the best location (makes sense for voters in area and
accessible to voters) for polling places. This bill
requires the placement of polling places without a
link to the number of people who are registered to
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vote within that precinct or to the number of people
who live on a campus. Many students are registered to
vote at their permanent residence (e.g., their
parents' residence). The committee and the author may
wish to consider amending this bill to exclude
counties that do not have a public college with an
adequate number of students residing on campus that
are registered to vote at that campus address.
4) Primary elections . This bill requires elections
officials to locate a polling place on public college
campuses for each statewide general and primary
election. Is it prudent to require polling places on
college campuses at times when few students may be on
campus? The committee and the author may wish to
consider amending this bill to exclude state elections
scheduled for June or any other time (special state
elections) when these campuses are on summer or other
types of breaks.
5) Not just for students . This bill requires polling
places on each campus of the CSU and UC, but does not
limit voting at those polling places to students of
that campus. Access to parking and navigation on
college campuses can be difficult, which could impede
the ability of the off-campus community to access the
polling place.
6) Small County Exemption . This bill exempts counties
that have a population under 150,000, which appear to
include Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte,
Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa,
Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San
Benito, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity,
Tuolumne, and Yuba.
7) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee analysis of prior
legislation, "there are 40 counties in California with
a UC, CSU, and/or CCC campus. Assuming an average
cost of $1,300 to establish and operate a polling
place, annual reimbursable General Fund costs would be
$52,000. Some counties currently locate polling
places on college campuses. This bill creates a
mandate that requires the state to reimburse counties
for these costs for one college within each county."
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8) Prior legislation . AB 346 (Atkins, 2011) would have
required county elections officials to establish at
least one polling place for each state election on a
campus of a CCC, CSU and UC within their respective
counties. AB 346 failed passage in the Senate
Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee on
2-3 vote on June 21, 2011.
SUPPORT
Cal Berkeley Democrats
California College Democrats
Service Employees International Union, California State
Council
OPPOSITION
None on file.