California 2017-2018 Regular Session Status: Enacted

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

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 820, Statutes of 2017.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 16, 2017. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 72% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 7 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

(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 official's 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 official's 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.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 820, Statutes of 2017.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

  4. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 3501.).

  5. From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (September 14).

  6. Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 3273.)

  7. Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.

  8. Assembly Rule 77(a) suspended. (Ayes 54. Noes 25. Page 3255.)

  9. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 15 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

  10. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2740.).

  11. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  12. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  13. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  14. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  15. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  16. From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

  17. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  18. 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.

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

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

  21. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 1144.)

  22. Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

  23. From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (April 5).

  24. Coauthors revised.

  25. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  26. Read second time and amended.

  27. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (March 22).

  28. Referred to Com. on E. & R.

  29. From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.

  30. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Gonzalez Fletcher · Cosponsor
  • Quirk · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 120 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

  • Quirk

Co-sponsors (1)

  • Gonzalez Fletcher

Not signed on (120)

120 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 120 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

AB 840 QUIRK Concurrence in Senate Amendments

Passed 77 Yea · 0 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 56002
Democratic 15000
Republican 6000
Total 77002
% of votes cast 97%0%0%3%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Yea
Holden — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Levine — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Nazarian — Not Voting
O'Donnell — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Dababneh — Yea
Frazier — Not Voting
Chau — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Harper — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Salas — Yea
Chu — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Mayes — Yea
Baker — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Melendez — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Ridley-Thomas — Yea
Steinorth — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Fong — Yea
Gray — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Burke — Yea
Low — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Daly — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Medina — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Ting — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading AB840 Quirk et al. By Leyva

Passed 40 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 35000
Democratic 5000
Total 40000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Anderson — Yea
Beall — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Hernandez — Yea
Moorlach — Yea
Pan — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Allen — Yea
Cannella — Yea
De León — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Fuller — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Bates — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Hill — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Lara — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Mendoza — Yea
Monning — Yea
Morrell — Yea
Newman — Yea
Nielsen — Yea
Roth — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Vidak — Yea
Wilk — Yea
Beth Gaines — Yea
Bill Berryhill — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Nguyen, Stephanie Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

AB 840 QUIRK Consent Calendar Second Day

Passed 74 Yea · 0 Nay · 6 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 54003
Democratic 16000
Republican 4003
Total 74006
% of votes cast 93%0%0%8%
How each member voted (80)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Yea
Baker — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Not Voting
Harper — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Low — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Medina — Yea
Ridley-Thomas — Not Voting
Santiago — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Wood — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Cunningham — Yea
Daly — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Holden — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Melendez — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Salas — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Burke — Yea
Gray — Yea
Gomez — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Levine — Yea
Mathis — Not Voting
Chau — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Dababneh — Yea
Mayes — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Steinorth — Yea
Ting — Yea
Weber — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Not Voting
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Not Voting
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea
Patterson, Joe Republican Not Voting

Official roll call →

Do pass. To Consent Calendar.

Passed 17 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 11000
Democratic 5000
Republican 1000
Total 17000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (17)
Member Party Vote
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Yea
Obernolte — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Gray — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Chau — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Fong, Mike Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 840 do?
(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 official's 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 official's 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.
Who sponsors AB 840?
AB 840 is sponsored by Gonzalez Fletcher and Quirk.
What is the current status of AB 840?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 16, 2017. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 840?
Track AB 840 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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