SB 1140

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law establishes procedures regarding the registration of voters. Under existing law, a person may not be registered to vote except by affidavit of registration, and a voter may not vote in an election unless his or her affidavit of registration is executed and received by the county elections official on or before the 15th day prior to the election. Existing law permits any registered voter to vote by a vote by mail ballot, and further permits any voter using a vote by mail ballot to vote the ballot at the office of the elections official beginning 29 days before the election. This bill would establish one-stop voting whereby a person would be permitted to register to vote and immediately vote on election day or at any time prior to election day when ballots may be cast. The bill would require a voter, in order to register and vote by means of one-stop voting, to visit a location at which one-stop voting is available, to present proof of identity and current residence, as specified, and to complete an affidavit of registration. Upon completing that registration, the voter would be immediately eligible to vote by regular ballot. If the voter is unable to complete that registration because the voter is unable to present proof of identity or proof of current residence, the voter would be permitted to register and vote by provisional ballot. The bill would require each county elections official to compile an index of voters who register to vote by one-stop voting. After the official canvass of the votes for that election is completed, the elections official would be required to review the names on the index and cancel duplicate registrations. The elections official would be required to send a voter registration form to every person who properly registered to vote by one-stop voting, and those persons would be registered for future elections at the address that the voter declared for purposes of voter registration. The elections official would be required to notify the district attorney and the Secretary of State if it appears that a person has engaged in fraudulent voting. The bill would require that one-stop voting be available at every permanent office of a county elections official beginning January 1 of the year following the implementation of VoteCal. In addition, the bill would require that each location at which one-stop voting is available have a separate area for the process and have at least one precinct board member who is trained in one-stop voting. The bill would authorize the Secretary of State to adopt appropriate regulations to implement one-stop registration and voting. The provisions of the bill establishing one-stop voting would become operative as of January 1 following the date that VoteCal is implemented. By creating new duties for local elections officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.