AB 1461 — Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program.

Summary

Existing law, the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requires a state to, among other things, establish procedures to register a person to vote by application made simultaneously with an application for a new or renewal of a motor vehicle driver's license. The federal act requires the motor vehicle driver's license application to serve as an application for voter registration with respect to an election for federal office, unless the applicant fails to sign the application, and requires the application to be considered as updating the applicant's previous voter registration, if any. The federal act defines "motor vehicle driver's license" to include any personal identification document issued by a state motor vehicle authority. Under existing state law, a person may not be registered to vote except by affidavit of registration. Existing law requires a properly executed affidavit of registration to be deemed effective upon receipt of the affidavit by the county elections official if the affidavit is submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles on or before the 15th day before the election. Existing state law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Secretary of State to develop a process and the infrastructure to allow a person who is qualified to register to vote in the state to register to vote online. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver's licenses and state identification cards to applicants who meet specified criteria and provide the department with the required information. Existing law generally requires an applicant for an original driver's license or state identification card to submit satisfactory proof to the department that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law. This bill would require the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration by any person who is qualified to be a voter. Under the program, after the Secretary of State certifies that certain enumerated conditions are satisfied, the Department of Motor Vehicles would be required to electronically provide to the Secretary of State the records of each person who is issued an original or renewal of a driver's license or state identification card or who provides the department with a change of address, as specified. The person's motor vehicle records would then constitute a completed affidavit of registration and the person would be registered to vote, unless the person affirmatively declined to be registered to vote during a transaction with the department, the department did not represent to the Secretary of State that the person attested that he or she meets all voter eligibility requirements, as specified, or the Secretary of State determines that the person is ineligible to vote. The bill would require the Secretary of State to adopt regulations to implement this program, as specified. Under existing law, the willful, unauthorized disclosure of information from a Department of Motor Vehicles record to any person, or the use of any false representation to obtain information from a department record or any use of information obtained from any department record for a purpose other than the one stated in the request or the sale or other distribution of the information to a person or organization for purposes not disclosed in the request is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or both fine and imprisonment. This bill would provide that disclosure of information contained in the records obtained from the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the California New Motor Voter Program is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or both fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, authorizes every state agency to maintain in its records only personal information that is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the agency, or is required or authorized by state or federal law. That act specifies the situations in which disclosure is permissible and also specifies the manner in which agencies must account for disclosures of personal information, including those due to security breaches, among other provisions. This bill would require the Secretary of State to establish procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of information acquired from the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to the California New Motor Voter Program and would state that the provisions of the Information Practices Act of 1977 govern disclosures pursuant to the program. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to willfully cause, procure, or allow himself or herself or any other person to be registered as a voter, knowing that he or she or that other person is not entitled to registration. Existing law also makes it a crime to fraudulently vote or attempt to vote. This bill would provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of the California New Motor Voter Program in the absence of a violation by that person of the crime described above, that person's registration shall be presumed to have been effected with official authorization and not the fault of that person. The bill would also provide that if a person who is ineligible to vote becomes registered to vote by operation of this program, and that person votes or attempts to vote in an election held after the effective date of the person's registration, that person shall be presumed to have acted with official authorization and is not guilty of fraudulently voting or attempting to vote, unless that person willfully votes or attempts to vote knowing that he or she is not entitled to vote. This bill would also make conforming changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2102 of the Elections Code, proposed by SB 589, that would become operative only if SB 589 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill Text

• Chaptered 10/10/15 - Chaptered Current pdf October 10, 2015
• Enrolled 09/16/15 - Enrolled pdf September 16, 2015
• Amended 09/04/15 - Amended Senate pdf September 04, 2015
• Amended 08/31/15 - Amended Senate pdf August 31, 2015
• Amended 06/23/15 - Amended Senate pdf June 23, 2015
• Amended 05/05/15 - Amended Assembly pdf May 05, 2015
• Amended 04/20/15 - Amended Assembly pdf April 20, 2015
• Amended 04/06/15 - Amended Assembly pdf April 06, 2015
• Amended 03/26/15 - Amended Assembly pdf March 26, 2015
• Introduced 02/27/15 - Introduced pdf February 27, 2015
• AB1461 View text html

Action History

1. October 10, 2015

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 729, Statutes of 2015.

2. October 10, 2015

   Approved by the Governor.

3. September 23, 2015

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

4. September 11, 2015

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 52. Noes 26. Page 3153.).

5. September 10, 2015

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

6. September 10, 2015

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 25. Noes 15. Page 2702.).

7. September 08, 2015

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

8. September 04, 2015

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

9. August 31, 2015

   Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.

10. August 27, 2015

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 27).

11. August 24, 2015

    In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

12. August 17, 2015

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

13. July 15, 2015

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 3.) (July 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

14. July 01, 2015

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on T. & H. (Ayes 3. Noes 1.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on T. & H.

15. June 23, 2015

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

16. June 18, 2015

    Re-referred to Coms. on E. & C.A. and T. & H.

17. June 16, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

18. June 16, 2015

    Withdrawn from committee.

19. June 11, 2015

    Referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

20. June 02, 2015

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

21. June 02, 2015

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 52. Noes 26. Page 1791.)

22. June 01, 2015

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

23. May 28, 2015

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (May 28).

24. May 20, 2015

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

25. May 06, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

26. May 05, 2015

    Read second time and amended.

27. May 04, 2015

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (April 29).

28. April 28, 2015

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on E. & R. (Ayes 10. Noes 5.) (April 27). Re-referred to Com. on E. & R.

29. April 21, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.

30. April 20, 2015

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. Read second time and amended.

31. April 20, 2015

    (pending re-referral to the Com. on E. & R.)

32. April 20, 2015

    Assembly Rule 56 suspended. (Page 1002.)

33. April 13, 2015

    From committee: Be re-referred to Coms. on TRANS. and E. & R. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.

34. April 09, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

35. April 07, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on E. & R.

36. April 06, 2015

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E. & R. Read second time and amended.

37. April 06, 2015

    Re-referred to Com. on E. & R.

38. March 26, 2015

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E. & R. Read second time and amended.

39. March 26, 2015

    Referred to Com. on E. & R.

40. March 02, 2015

    Read first time.

41. March 01, 2015

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 31.

42. February 27, 2015

    Introduced. To print.

Sponsors

• Alejo · Cosponsor
• Lara · Cosponsor
• McCarty · Cosponsor
• Mullin · Cosponsor
• Jeff Gonzalez · Primary
• Robert Garcia · Cosponsor

Votes

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