California 2019-2020 Regular Session Status: Enacted 2 D cosponsors

SB 523 — Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 568, Statutes of 2019.

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 21, 2019. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · 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.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 8 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) Existing law requires an elections official, upon receiving a vote by mail ballot, to compare the signature on the identification envelope of the ballot to specified records of the voter's signature. If the signature does not compare, existing law requires the elections official, at least 8 days before the certification of the election, to provide the voter with notice of an opportunity to verify the voter's signature by signing and delivering a signature verification statement to the elections official, as specified. If the elections official determines that the voter has not signed the ballot identification envelope, existing law prohibits the elections official from rejecting the vote by mail ballot if the voter either signs the ballot identification envelope at the office of the elections official during regular business hours, or completes and submits an unsigned ballot statement, as specified, before 5 p.m. on the 8th day after the election. This bill would, in the case of a voter whose signatures do not match, require the elections official to notify the voter, at least 8 days before the certification of the election, of an opportunity to verify the voter's signature. It would extend the deadline for a voter who did not sign the ballot identification envelope to sign the envelope, or sign and deliver an unsigned ballot statement, to no later than 5 p.m. 2 days before the certification of the election. (2) Existing law provides that certain information on a voter's affidavit of registration, including the voter's home address and signature, is confidential and prohibits disclosure of the information except in specified circumstances. This bill would require information regarding voters who did not sign a vote by mail ballot identification envelope, or whose signature on the vote by mail ballot identification envelope did not match the voter's signature on file, to also be treated as confidential and would prohibit disclosure of the information except in specified circumstances. The bill would require any disclosure of the information to be accompanied by a specified notice relating to misuse of the information. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a local elections official, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 568, Statutes of 2019.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

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

  4. Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 29. Noes 11. Page 2903.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

  5. In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

  6. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 61. Noes 18. Page 3434.) Ordered to the Senate.

  7. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  8. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 21).

  9. Coauthors revised.

  10. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  11. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (July 3). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

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

  13. In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.

  14. Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 29. Noes 9. Page 1212.) Ordered to the Assembly.

  15. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  16. From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 4. Noes 2. Page 1102.) (May 16).

  17. Set for hearing May 16.

  18. April 22 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

  19. Set for hearing April 22.

  20. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0. Page 524.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  21. Set for hearing April 2.

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

  23. From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.

  24. Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 120 not signed on · 10 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

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

Unfinished Business SB523 McGuire et al. Concurrence

Passed 29 Yea · 11 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 19800
Democratic 10000
Republican 0300
Total 291100
% of votes cast 73%28%0%0%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
Rubio — Yea
Monning — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Beall — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Hill — Yea
Roth — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Allen — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Pan — Yea
Moorlach — Nay
Borgeas — Nay
Bates — Nay
Morrell — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Wilk — Nay
Chang — Nay
Mark Stone — Nay
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Gonzalez, Lena A. Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Dahle, Megan Republican Nay
Grove, Shannon Republican Nay
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

SB 523 McGuire Senate Third Reading By Gonzalez

Passed 61 Yea · 18 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 391300
Democratic 22000
Republican 0500
Total 611800
% of votes cast 77%23%0%0%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Salas — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Smith — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Gray — Yea
Holden — Yea
Daly — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Ting — Yea
Kamlager-Dove — Yea
Levine — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Low — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
Burke — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Wood — Yea
Medina — Yea
Rendon — Yea
Chu — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Weber — Yea
Fong — Nay
Voepel — Nay
Brough — Nay
Kiley — Nay
Mayes — Nay
Obernolte — Nay
Mathis — Nay
Bigelow — Nay
Melendez — Nay
Cunningham — Nay
Diep — Nay
Waldron — Nay
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Nay
Luz Rivas — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse 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
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Ramos, James C. Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea
Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Nay
Choi, Steven S. Republican Nay
Flora, Heath Republican Nay
Gallagher, James Republican Nay
Lackey, Tom Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass.

Passed 12 Yea · 5 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 5000
Unaffiliated 7501
Total 12501
% of votes cast 67%28%0%6%
How each member voted (18)
Member Party Vote
Bloom — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Gonzalez — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Chau — Yea
Fong — Nay
Obernolte — Nay
Brough — Nay
Bigelow — Nay
Diep — Nay
Eduardo Garcia — Not Voting
Wendy Carrillo — Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Gabriel, Jesse Democratic Yea
Petrie-Norris, Cottie Democratic Yea
Rivas, Robert Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

3rd Reading

Passed 29 Yea · 9 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 20700
Democratic 9000
Republican 0200
Total 29900
% of votes cast 76%24%0%0%
How each member voted (38)
Member Party Vote
Rubio — Yea
Monning — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Mitchell — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Beall — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Hill — Yea
Roth — Yea
Hueso — Yea
Leyva — Yea
Dodd — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Allen — Yea
Galgiani — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Glazer — Yea
Chang — Yea
Pan — Yea
Moorlach — Nay
Borgeas — Nay
Bates — Nay
Morrell — Nay
Nielsen — Nay
Wilk — Nay
Mark Stone — Nay
Archuleta, Bob Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic Yea
Hurtado, Melissa Democratic Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea
Umberg, Thomas J. Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea
Grove, Shannon Republican Nay
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Do pass

Passed 4 Yea · 2 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4100
Republican 0100
Total 4200
% of votes cast 67%33%0%0%
How each member voted (6)
Member Party Vote
Hill — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Bates — Nay
Jones, Brian W. Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Placed on suspense file

Passed 6 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 1000
Unaffiliated 5000
Total 6000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (6)
Member Party Vote
Wieckowski — Yea
Portantino — Yea
Bates — Yea
Hill — Yea
Bradford — Yea
Jones, Brian W. Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
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Frequently asked questions

What does SB 523 do?
(1) Existing law requires an elections official, upon receiving a vote by mail ballot, to compare the signature on the identification envelope of the ballot to specified records of the voter's signature. If the signature does not compare, existing law requires the elections official, at least 8 days before the certification of the election, to provide the voter with notice of an opportunity to verify the voter's signature by signing and delivering a signature verification statement to the elections official, as specified. If the elections official determines that the voter has not signed the ballot identification envelope, existing law prohibits the elections official from rejecting the vote by mail ballot if the voter either signs the ballot identification envelope at the office of the elections official during regular business hours, or completes and submits an unsigned ballot statement, as specified, before 5 p.m. on the 8th day after the election. This bill would, in the case of a voter whose signatures do not match, require the elections official to notify the voter, at least 8 days before the certification of the election, of an opportunity to verify the voter's signature. It would extend the deadline for a voter who did not sign the ballot identification envelope to sign the envelope, or sign and deliver an unsigned ballot statement, to no later than 5 p.m. 2 days before the certification of the election. (2) Existing law provides that certain information on a voter's affidavit of registration, including the voter's home address and signature, is confidential and prohibits disclosure of the information except in specified circumstances. This bill would require information regarding voters who did not sign a vote by mail ballot identification envelope, or whose signature on the vote by mail ballot identification envelope did not match the voter's signature on file, to also be treated as confidential and would prohibit disclosure of the information except in specified circumstances. The bill would require any disclosure of the information to be accompanied by a specified notice relating to misuse of the information. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a local elections official, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
Who sponsors SB 523?
SB 523 is sponsored by McGuire, Mike (Democratic) and Gonzalez, Lena A. (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 523?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 21, 2019. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 523?
Track SB 523 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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