SB 163 (Hertzberg) Page 1 of 2

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular Session

SB163 (Hertzberg) - Elections: Vote by mail ballots

Version: February 4, 2015 / Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 4 - 1
Urgency: No / Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 28, 2015 / Consultant: Maureen Ortiz

SUSPENSE FILE. AS AMENDED

Bill Summary:

SB 163 requires county election officials to issue a vote by mail (VBM) ballot to every registered voter in the county for statewide primary, special and general elections.

Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 28, 2015)

  • Unknown, potentially $5 million - $ 9 million per statewide election for mailing VBM ballots (General Fund)
  • Unknown, potentially significant savings from precinct consolidation (General Fund)

The number of registered voters in Los Angeles County is approximately 4.8 million. Of that number, about 1.5 million are registered to vote by mail. The above costs will be reimbursable as a state mandate and will be paid from the General Fund.

Background:

Existing law authorizes any registered voter in California to vote by mail, and to become a permanent VBM voter. Any VBM voter may also vote at a polling place and is issued a provisional ballot to do so. Existing law also permits an election to be conducted wholly by mail if the governing body authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the election providing that certain conditions are met such as:

a)The election has no more than 1,000 registered voters who are eligible to participate;

b)The election is in a city, county, or district with 5,000 or fewer registered voters that is restricted to the imposition of special taxes, expenditure limitation overrides, or both;

c)The election is on the issuance of a general obligation water bond;

d)The election is in one of four specifically enumerated water districts; or,

e)It is for an election or assessment ballot proceeding required or authorized by the state constitution under Proposition 218.

Additionally, current law authorizes a number of other elections to be held wholly by mail such as a school district or city with a population of 100,000 or less for a special election to fill a vacancy, or instances where there are 250 or fewer people registered in a precinct. Additionally, a pilot program permits the counties of Yolo and San Mateo, through January 1, 2018, to conduct up to three all-mail elections subject to specified conditions including voter education and reporting. San Diego County is authorized through 2020 to conduct all mail elections for special elections to fill legislative and congressional vacancies.

Proposed Law:

SB 163 will require a county elections official to issue a VBM ballot to every registered voter in the county for statewide primary, special, and general elections. The bill provides that the distribution of VBM ballots to all registered voters does not prevent a registered voter from exercising their right to vote at their designated precinct polling location.

SB 163 contains Legislative Findings and Declarations that encouraging residents to participate in every election assists in maintaining a healthy democracy in California, and will yield more representative election results.

Staff Comments:

According to the Secretary of State, only 25.17% of all registered California voters cast a ballot in the June 3, 2014 Primary Election and only 42.20% in the November 4, 2014 General Election. Participation was especially poor in Los Angeles County where turnout of registered voters was a mere 16.97% in the Primary Election and just 31.01% for the General Election. Since over 27% of all registered voters in California reside in Los Angeles County, low turnout there has an enormous statistical impact on overall statewide turnout.

Since 1960, the turnout of registered voters in California non-presidential general elections has steadily decreased from a high of 79.2% in 1966 to a previous low of 50.57% in 2002. Additionally, the turnout for non-presidential primary elections since 1960 has also steadily decreased from a high of 68.88% in 1978 (when Proposition 13 appeared on the ballot) to a previous low of 33.31% in 2010.

The number of California voters who use VBM ballots increases every year. At the June 3, 2014 primary election 69.4% of all voters used a VBM ballot, and 60.52% of voters used a VBM ballot in the November 4, 2014 statewide general election.

Staff notes that while SB 163 requires every voter to receive a VBM ballot, it does not allow for the adjustment of the existing polling place requirements. Current law requires that precincts generally contain no more than 1,000 registered voters and polling places must have enough ballots to accommodate at least 75% of its voters. Therefore, counties will not realize any reduction in precinct costs even if every voter receives a VBM ballot.

While smaller counties may be able to eliminate certain expenses by allowing the consolidated mailings of the sample ballot and the VBM ballot, most counties have expressed concerns over the logistics of doing this such as limited ballot printers and mailers, the size of the VBM ballots and sample ballots, as well as procedural and deadline differences between the VBM and sample ballots.

For instance, in a large election it may not be possible to use existing mailing equipment since a county could have 400 ballot styles containing a large number of candidates and measures which would prohibit the addition of another insert. Mailing the VBM and sample ballots together may require a redesign of the envelope and packet so that the designated polling place is visible, and could result in a delay in the mailings.

Amendments (as adopted May 28, 2015): Delete the current contents of SB 163, and instead requires a two year pilot in Los Angeles County where the elections officials will mail a VBM ballot to all registered voters during statewide elections held in 2017 and 2018. The amendments require voter education, and allow the counties to adjust the number of precincts and consolidate the mailings of election materials to reduce costs.

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