AB 840: Elections: vote by mail and provisional ballots.

(1)Under existing law, a vote by mail voter must sign the vote by mail ballot envelope. This envelope contains, among other information, a declaration under penalty of perjury that the voter resides within the precinct in which he or she is voting and is the person whose name appears on the envelope. If an elections official determines that a voter has failed to sign this identification envelope, the elections official is prohibited from rejecting the vote by mail ballot if the voter signs the identification envelope at the election officials office before 5 p.m. on the eighth day after the election or the voter completes and submits an unsigned ballot statement, as specified. Existing law requires certain instructions to accompany the unsigned ballot statement, including the instruction that a voter may submit his or her completed unsigned ballot statement by facsimile transmission to the local elections official instead of mailing or delivering the completed unsigned ballot statement to the local elections official. Existing law requires an elections official to include the unsigned ballot statement and instructions on his or her Internet Web site, and to provide the election officials mailing address and facsimile transmission number on that site.

This bill would require the unsigned ballot statement to be signed under penalty of perjury, and it would also include in that statement a representation that the voter is a resident of the precinct in which he or she voted and is the person whose name appears on the vote by mail ballot envelope. This bill would authorize a voter to submit his or her completed unsigned ballot statement to the local elections official by email by requiring that the instructions accompanying unsigned ballot statements inform a voter that a completed unsigned ballot statement can be submitted by email. The bill would also require the local elections official to include his or her email address on the Internet Web page containing the unsigned ballot statement and instructions. By requiring local election officials to take additional actions related to unsigned ballot statements, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By requiring the unsigned ballot statement to be signed under penalty of perjury, this bill would also create a new crime.

(2)Existing law requires an elections official, immediately upon the close of the polls, to conduct a semifinal official canvass by tabulating vote by mail and precinct ballots and compiling the results. No later than the Thursday following the election, existing law requires the elections official to conduct an official canvass of the ballots cast in an election, including counting any valid vote by mail and provisional ballots that were not included in the semifinal official canvass. Existing law requires an elections official, during the official canvass of an election in which a voting system is used, to conduct a public manual tally of the ballots tabulated by the voting system, including vote by mail ballots, cast in 1% of the precincts chosen at random, as specified.

This bill would specify that the 1% manual tally is a tally of the ballots canvassed in the semifinal official canvass and does not include provisional ballots.

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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.