Elections

SB 1272 (Kehoe) – Support
Chapter No. 507, Statutes of 2012

SB 1272, by Senator Christine Kehoe, extends the term of central committee members to four years from two. This change, though minor on its face, would be a major benefit for county election offices, for two main reasons.

First, under the new top two primary system, the only partisan races remaining on the ballot are for U.S. President and for central committee members. Therefore, in years of gubernatorial elections, with no presidential contest, central committees would be the sole partisan contests, requiring major cost increases associated with preparing and printing party-specific ballots.

Second, central committee candidates constitute a disproportionately large percentage of the candidates to whom election officials must provide services, constituting between half and three-fourths of candidates. Many central committee contests do not end up on the ballot because the number of candidates is fewer than the number of available spots. However, the central committees still have the option of forcing the question on the ballot, requiring the space for listing the candidates and a number of write-in spaces. Statewide, only about a quarter of voters vote on central committee contests.

Lastly, counties are required to pay all the costs of central committee elections with county general funds, even though central committees are private entities.

Governor Brown signed SB 1272 on Monday, September 24.

AB 1436 (Feuer) – Watch
Chapter No. 497, Statutes of 2012

AB 1436, by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, allows voters to register in the final two weeks before an election, including on Election Day itself, in an effort to improve voter turnout. Currently, citizens must register at least fifteen days before an election to vote in it. AB 1436 does not become operative until Secretary of State has successfully begun operating a statewide voter registration database.

Governor Brown signed AB 1436 on Monday, September 24.

AB 2080 (Gordon) – Support
Chapter No. 501, Statutes of 2012

AB 2080, by Assembly Member Rich Gordon, lets vote-by-mail voters have another member of their household return their ballot for them if they are unable.

Under current law, a voter must be ill or physically disabled in order to designate someone else to return his or her marked ballot. However, Californians, who are increasingly voting mailed ballots, seem to be unaware of this law and frequently give their ballots to spouses or other family members to return for them. Practically, poll workers have no way to verify the voter’s illness or disability.

Governor Brown signed AB 2080 on Monday, September 24.

SB 1331 (Kehoe) – Support
Chapter No. 508, Statutes of 2012

SB 1331, by Senator Christine Kehoe, creates an independent redistricting commission to draw the supervisorial districts in the County of San Diego.

The citizens of San Diego County and that county’s Board of Supervisors have requested an independent redistricting process for their county. The commission contemplated by SB 1331 would ensure transparency by subjecting the commission to the Brown Act and requiring public hearings throughout the county. It requires the county to provide financial support and would be made up of retired judges.

Governor Brown signed SB 1272 on Monday, September 24.

AB 216 (Swanson) – Support
Chapter No. 495, Statutes of 2012

AB 216, by Assembly Member Sandre Swanson, gives county registrars another option for updating voters’ addresses.

County registrars check voters’ addresses before elections to make sure election mail, including ballots, reaches the right people. Currently, they can do that by sending postcards to all registered voters and requesting a response, or by checking their information against the U.S. Postal Service and sending postcards only to those the USPS says have moved. Unfortunately, many people do not officially tell the USPS when they move, so while the first method is inefficient, the second method is incomplete.

Credit bureaus are very good at keeping up with people, and their contact data is the best around. Under AB 216, county registrars could check their data against the information maintained at these credit bureaus instead of the USPS before sending postcards.

Governor Brown signed AB 216 on Monday, September 24.

Finance

SB 954 (Liu) – Support
Chapter No. 650, Statutes of 2012

SB 954, by Senator Carol Liu, authorizes the State Controller, at the request of a county or city, to offset any payments due to people from the unclaimed property held by the state in order to pay debts those people owe the county or city.

This authority already exists for offsetting tax refunds and lottery winnings. The bill provides an appeal process for people who believe the billing was in error, ensuring the process is fair to all parties. All current protections for those billed are retained from the current process.

SB 954 extends a proven, efficient system for recovery of money due to local agencies, and in doing so will ensure millions of dollars owed to counties and cities are paid.

Governor Brown signed SB 954 on Thursday, September 27.