Statewide Reform on the Horizon

County elections officials are reporting outcomes from Tuesday’s election, and in San Mateo County the results include not just what voters supported or opposed – but how they transmitted their votes. San Mateo and Yolo Counties are participating in a pilot program to conduct elections wholly by mail. This type of election is now the statewide method of voting in Colorado (see NPR article on the Colorado model). Under this model, all registered voters receive a ballot in the mail, and may then cast their vote by returning the ballot via U.S. mail or drop off at a designated location, or by voting in person at a voting center in their county. Proponents of this type of election system hope it will help boost voter engagement– an increasing concern, as California voter turnout hit a record low in 2014 (Secretary of State news release).

In 2011, AB 413 (Yamada) permitted Yolo County to start a pilot program and conduct certain types of elections entirely by mail. In 2014, AB 2028 (Mullin) allowed San Mateo to join in the pilot program. These counties will report to the Legislature and Secretary of State on the success of the elections, including cost, turnout of different populations, number of ballots not counted and the reasons they were rejected, voter fraud, and any other problems. If possible, the reports will compare the success of the pilot program election to similar elections conducted under the existing voting system. San Mateo County conducted its first election under the pilot program on Tuesday. When interviewed by the San Jose Mercury News, Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer, estimated that this method would increase voter turnout would increase and decrease costs. When Yolo County conducted special elections with this model in 2013, county officials did not observe an increase in turnout but did tally significant cost savings.

While these pilot programs continue to test new and innovative methods of voting in some counties, statewide reform is simmering in the legislature. SB 450 (Allen) is a proposed overhaul of the California voting system that would set up a statewide vote by mail system with regional voting centers. The bill is sponsored by Secretary of State Alex Padilla and authored by Senators Ben Allen and Bob Hertzberg; while the bill was not passed in 2015, the authors and legislative leadership continue to work on the bill and engage with stakeholders with the intention of acting upon it during the 2016 legislative session. CSAC supports the measure (link to letter), with acknowledgement that more work is needed to address stakeholder concerns about cost and implementation.

Other proposals aim to drive voter engagement in different ways. Assemblymember Levineannounced he plans to introduce legislation to legalize “ballot selfies.” With the 2016 election on the horizon, elections reforms taking shape in other states, and pilot programs underway here in California, voter participation and elections reform will likely be hot topics.