BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1020| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1020 Author: Ridley-Thomas (D) Amended: 9/1/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 7/7/15 AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Elections: voter registration SOURCE: Secretary of State Alex Padilla DIGEST: This bill updates key Elections Code statutes and deletes obsolete provisions in anticipation of the deployment of the federally mandated VoteCal statewide voter registration database. Senate Floor Amendments of 9/1/15 add double-jointing language to avoid chaptering problems with SB 589 (Block) and AB 477 (Mullin) and also restore provisions relating to the verification of signatures to the version that was approved in policy committee. ANALYSIS: Existing law: AB 1020 Page 2 1)Requires, pursuant to the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, every state to implement a computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the state level. 2)Provides that a person is entitled to register to vote if he or she 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 registration. 3)Authorizes county elections officials, under specified circumstances and in order to promote and encourage voter registrations, to deputize as registrars qualified citizens to register voters anywhere within the county. 4)Sets forth the deadlines by which county elections officials must accept affidavits of registration which is generally at all times except during the 14 days immediately preceding an election except under forthcoming provisions permitting "conditional" registration of voters in conjunction with provisional voting after this deadline up to and including Election Day. 5)Specifies that conditional voter registration as described above becomes operative on January 1 of the year following the year in which the Secretary of State (SOS) certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with the requirements of HAVA. It is anticipated that this statewide voter database will become operative in 2016, therefore conditional voter registration will commence in 2017. 6)Permits specified voters to apply for and receive confidential voter status. 7)Provides that a person who obtains signatures or other information collected for an initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall not send that information outside of the United States or make it available in any way electronically to persons outside the United States, including, but not limited to, access over the Internet. This bill: AB 1020 Page 3 1)Updates numerous sections of the Elections Code and deletes numerous obsolete sections in anticipation of the deployment of the federally mandated VoteCal statewide voter registration database. 2)Provides that a person is entitled to preregister to vote in an election if, among other things, that person is at least 16 years of age but is not eligible to vote until he or she is 18 years of age and makes other conforming changes related thereto. 3)Deletes references in the code to deputy registrars of voters and makes conforming changes to related provisions of law. 4)Deletes various existing provisions of law regarding the timing of acceptance of affidavits of registration and consolidate these and other related code sections into a single section that consolidates deadlines for voter registration, re-registration, and updating of registrations that also reflects anticipation of the start of conditional voter registration. 5)Makes corresponding changes to the process whereby specified voters may apply for and receive confidential voter status in anticipation of VoteCal. 6)Provides, additionally, that a person who obtains signatures or other information collected for a political party qualification petition shall not send that information outside of the United States or make it available in any way electronically to persons outside the United States, including, but not limited to, access over the Internet. 7)Corrects incorrect cross-references and deletes numerous obsolete provisions of law. 8)Becomes operative only if the SOS certifies that the state has a statewide voter registration database that complies with HAVA. 9)Includes language to avoid chaptering problems with SB 589 (Block) and AB 477 (Mullin). Background AB 1020 Page 4 VoteCal. HAVA requires every state to implement a computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the state level. At the time HAVA was approved, California was already using a statewide voter registration system, known as Calvoter, which achieved some of the goals of the voter registration list required by HAVA. However, Calvoter did not satisfy all of the requirements in that law, including requirements that the database be fully interactive and have the capability of storing a complete voter registration history for every voter. In order to meet the statewide voter registration requirements outlined in HAVA, California made upgrades to the Calvoter system to achieve interim compliance while the state developed a new permanent statewide voter registration system. The new system, which is currently in development, is known as VoteCal. The VoteCal system is currently on track for full implementation in 2016. VoteCal will include a number of new key features and upgrades from the Calvoter system, including the following: 1)A Publicly Available Web site. VoteCal will provide improved service to the voters of California through a publicly available statewide customer service Web site. At the Web site, voters will be able to apply to register to vote or update their existing voter registration record. Voters will also be able to review information in their voter record, including: their precinct and polling place; political party preference; eligibility to vote in an upcoming election; and, status as a permanent vote-by-mail or one-time mail ballot voter. In addition, voters using the public VoteCal Web site will be in a better position to take advantage of many lesser known election tools and services already on the books. They will be able to opt in or out of receiving physical copies of the Voter Information Guide and County Sample Ballots, and may instead request to receive the documents electronically. A voter will also be able to retrieve information from the new website about whether their vote-by-mail or provisional ballot is counted and, if it was not, the reason why it was not counted. AB 1020 Page 5 2)A Complete Index of Voter Registration Records. The most discussed portion of VoteCal is the statewide database, as required under HAVA, that the SOS and county elections officials will collectively use to manage the voter information for all Californians. VoteCal will store and maintain voter registration information for the voters of California in the 58 counties. Moreover, VoteCal will allow county elections officials to research a voter's registration, voter activity and voter participation history, store voter affidavit and signature images, and much more. 3)A Single Place for List Maintenance Functions. VoteCal offers much needed utility to state and local elections officials. As a central source for list maintenance functions, VoteCal ensures the voter registration list is up-to-date and accurate. As part of list maintenance, VoteCal is designed to check for duplicate registrations, check registration records to ensure voters have not been convicted of a crime that would preclude them from voting, check for deceased voters, and accommodate immediate updates of voter registration data in a central system as it is entered by the counties. 4)Local Elections Official Assistance. VoteCal will work with county Election Management Systems (EMS) to help county elections officials set up and track their elections. VoteCal will be used to set up statewide elections, and VoteCal will interact with the county EMS to track election information such as a voter's districts and precincts and their political party preference. VoteCal will also allow voters to opt in or out of receiving the voter information guide and the county sample ballot. This bill incorporates multiple federal VoteCal requirements into voter registration and other related statutes by revising and repealing relevant Elections Code sections as necessary. These provisions were developed through collaboration between the SOS and county elections officials in an ongoing process to identify statutory changes in preparation for implementing VoteCal, including the following: 1)Streamlining voter registration updates and voter file maintenance, so that voters' registrations are seamlessly updated using the real-time efficiencies of VoteCal. AB 1020 Page 6 2)Eliminating outdated references and procedures, including references to deputy registrars of voters and to technology-specific references to obsolete registration systems, and requirements to maintain multiple paper copies of registration records. 3)Codifying language necessary to prescribe the new VoteCal system and procedures, including clarifying the roles of state and county elections officials. 4)Improving clarity in existing law by repealing code sections that are no longer used under the current system and irrelevant to VoteCal. 5)Consolidating obsolete voter registration management statutes into fewer, more specific code sections. 6)Ensuring the continued protection for confidential voters and their personal information. Comments 1)According to the author, California is in the process of developing a new statewide voter registration system in order to fully comply with requirements in federal law. The new system, which is known as VoteCal, is currently on track for full implementation in 2016. While California must develop a statewide voter database pursuant to federal law, multiple state statutes must be changed to conform to federal requirements. AB 1020 will ensure that the federally mandated VoteCal statewide voter registration database can be implemented effectively by updating key Elections Code statutes and deleting obsolete provisions. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15) AB 1020 Page 7 Secretary of State Alex Padilla (source) California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15 AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Jones, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron, Weber Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106 8/18/15 17:03:16 **** END ****