AB 918 — California Voting for All Act.

Summary

(1) In counties where the Secretary of State has determined that it is appropriate, existing law requires each precinct board to post, in a conspicuous location in the polling place, at least one facsimile copy of the ballot with the ballot measures and ballot instructions printed in Spanish. Existing law requires that facsimile ballots be printed in other languages and posted in the same manner if a significant and substantial need is found by the Secretary of State. This bill, the California Voting for All Act, would instead require the county elections official to post one facsimile copy of the ballot that is printed in Spanish or other applicable languages, as determined by the Secretary of State, and to provide at least one facsimile copy of the ballot for voters at the polling place to use as a reference when casting a private ballot. If the Secretary of State determines that the number of voting-age residents in a precinct who are members of a single language minority and who lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance exceeds 20% of the voting-age residents in that precinct, the bill would require the county elections official to post one facsimile copy of the ballot, as described above, and to provide at least 3 facsimile copies of the ballot for voters at the polling place to use as a reference when casting a private ballot. The bill would require, in polling places where facsimile copies of the ballot are necessary, precinct board members to be trained on the purpose and proper handling of facsimile copies of ballots. The bill would also provide that a county elections official is not required to provide facsimile copies of the ballot in a particular language if the county elections official is required to provide translated ballots in that language under other provisions of law, as specified. The bill would authorize a vote by mail voter to request that a facsimile copy of a ballot be sent by regular mail or electronic mail in the language of his or her preference, as specified. The bill would require a county elections official to prepare the requested facsimile copies no later than 10 days before election day and to process any requests for facsimile copies, as specified. By imposing new duties on county elections officials, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the California Voter's Choice Act, authorizes 14 specified counties, on or after January 1, 2018, and on or after January 1, 2020, any county except for the County of Los Angeles, to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election if certain conditions are satisfied. On or after January 1, 2020, the act authorizes the County of Los Angeles to conduct any election as a vote center election if certain conditions are satisfied, including conditions related to ballot dropoff locations and vote centers. This bill would apply certain requirements relating to the availability and accessibility of non-English facsimile ballots and the public posting of voter information to the County of Los Angeles if it conducts a vote center election pursuant to the California Voter's Choice Act. For an all-mailed ballot election or vote center election conducted pursuant to the California Voter's Choice Act, the bill would require a county elections official to determine if a voter has previously identified a preferred language other than English, and would also require a county elections official to provide a facsimile copy of the ballot in the voter's language preference, as specified, if the county is providing facsimile copies of the ballot in that language. (3) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that non-English-speaking citizens, like all other citizens, should be encouraged to vote and that appropriate efforts should be made to minimize obstacles to non-English-speaking citizens voting without assistance. Existing law requires an elections official to make reasonable efforts to recruit election officials who are fluent in a non-English language and in English, if the official finds that non-English-speaking citizens approximate 3% or more of the voting-age residents of a precinct, or if interested citizens or organizations provide information that the elections official believes indicates a need for voting assistance for qualified non-English-speaking citizens. This bill would require county elections officials to report to the Secretary of State within 150 days following each statewide general election the number of individuals recruited to serve as members of precinct boards, including the number of those individuals recruited who are fluent in each language required to be represented at polling places. The bill would require, at each polling place, a precinct board member to identify the non-English languages spoken by him or her, other than English, by wearing a mechanism identifying the non-English languages spoken by that member. The bill would also make conforming changes to other provisions of law. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14200 of the Elections Code proposed by SB 286 to be operative only if this bill and SB 286 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Bill Text

• Chaptered 10/15/17 - Chaptered Current pdf October 15, 2017
• Enrolled 09/15/17 - Enrolled pdf September 15, 2017
• Amended 09/08/17 - Amended Senate pdf September 08, 2017
• Amended 09/06/17 - Amended Senate pdf September 06, 2017
• Amended 08/21/17 - Amended Senate pdf August 21, 2017
• Amended 07/06/17 - Amended Senate pdf July 06, 2017
• Amended 05/30/17 - Amended Assembly pdf May 30, 2017
• Amended 03/29/17 - Amended Assembly pdf March 29, 2017
• Introduced 02/16/17 - Introduced pdf February 16, 2017
• AB918 View text html

Action History

1. October 15, 2017

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 845, Statutes of 2017.

2. October 15, 2017

   Approved by the Governor.

3. September 25, 2017

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12 p.m.

4. September 14, 2017

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 61. Noes 12. Page 3377.).

5. September 13, 2017

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

6. September 13, 2017

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

7. September 12, 2017

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 31. Noes 8. Page 2754.).

8. September 11, 2017

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

9. September 08, 2017

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

10. September 07, 2017

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

11. September 06, 2017

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

12. September 05, 2017

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

13. September 01, 2017

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (September 1).

14. August 28, 2017

    In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

15. August 21, 2017

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

16. August 21, 2017

    In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.

17. July 13, 2017

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (July 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

18. July 06, 2017

    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. June 14, 2017

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

20. June 01, 2017

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

21. May 31, 2017

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 61. Noes 11. Page 1964.)

22. May 30, 2017

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

23. May 30, 2017

    Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 52. Noes 24. Page 1776.)

24. May 30, 2017

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

25. May 26, 2017

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 13. Noes 4.) (May 26).

26. April 26, 2017

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

27. April 05, 2017

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (April 5). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

28. March 30, 2017

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

29. March 29, 2017

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

30. March 02, 2017

    Referred to Com. on E. & R.

31. February 17, 2017

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.

32. February 16, 2017

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Gomez · Cosponsor
• Hueso · Cosponsor
• Holden · Cosponsor
• Ash Kalra · Cosponsor
• Leyva · Cosponsor
• Mendoza · Cosponsor
• Scott D. Wiener · Cosponsor
• Mia Bonta · Primary
• Robert Garcia · Cosponsor
• Joaquin Arambula · Cosponsor

Votes

Subjects