AB 37 — Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Summary

Existing law requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for all elections proclaimed or conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Existing law requires county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications. This bill would extend the requirements to mail a ballot to every registered voter to all elections and apply them to all local elections officials. This bill would require a vote by mail tracking system to be accessible to voters with disabilities. The bill would also make various conforming and technical changes. Existing law requires county elections officials to permit voters with a disability, and military or overseas voters, to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system, and required county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. This bill would require county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for any election. Under existing law, a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received by the voter's elections official via the United States Postal Service, or a bona fide private mail delivery company, no later than 3 days after election day. This bill would provide instead that a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received no later than 7 days after election day. This bill would authorize an elections official to consider any information from the United States Postal Service or a bona fide private mail delivery company that indicates the date on which the ballot was mailed, in order to determine whether a vote by mail ballot was timely cast. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are cast to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes 29 days before the election. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots on the 15th business day before the election, except, for the statewide general election held on November 3, 2020, these jurisdictions were authorized to start processing the ballots on the 29th day before the election. Existing law authorizes all other jurisdictions to start processing vote by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the election. Existing law authorizes a county elections official to establish vote by mail ballot drop-off locations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a county to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election under certain specified conditions. This bill would require any county that does not conduct an all-mailed ballot election to provide at least two vote by mail ballot drop-off locations within the jurisdiction where the election is held, or at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location for every 30,000 registered voters within the jurisdiction where the election is held, whichever results in more vote by mail ballot drop-off locations. In a jurisdiction with fewer than 30,000 registered voters, the bill would require at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location, and would require the elections official to make a reasonable effort to provide a ballot drop-off location in the jurisdiction where the election is held. This bill would require the operation of vote by mail ballot drop-off locations to meet certain specified criteria. This bill would authorize a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots the 29th day before any election. By requiring local elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter, and to take other actions, this 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

• Chaptered 09/27/21 - Chaptered Current pdf September 27, 2021
• Enrolled 09/08/21 - Enrolled pdf September 08, 2021
• Amended 08/26/21 - Amended Senate pdf August 26, 2021
• Amended 07/14/21 - Amended Senate pdf July 14, 2021
• Amended 07/01/21 - Amended Senate pdf July 01, 2021
• Amended 04/07/21 - Amended Assembly pdf April 07, 2021
• Introduced 12/07/20 - Introduced pdf December 07, 2020
• AB37 View text html

Action History

1. September 27, 2021

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 312, Statutes of 2021.

2. September 27, 2021

   Approved by the Governor.

3. September 10, 2021

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

4. September 03, 2021

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 17. Page 2779.).

5. September 03, 2021

   Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 57. Noes 18. Page 2778.)

6. September 02, 2021

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 4 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

7. September 02, 2021

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 7. Page 2338.).

8. August 30, 2021

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

9. August 26, 2021

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

10. August 26, 2021

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 26).

11. August 16, 2021

    In committee: Referred to suspense file.

12. July 14, 2021

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

13. July 13, 2021

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (July 12).

14. July 01, 2021

    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.

15. June 09, 2021

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

16. May 28, 2021

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

17. May 27, 2021

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 16. Page 1592.)

18. May 24, 2021

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

19. May 20, 2021

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 20).

20. May 20, 2021

    Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1460.)

21. May 19, 2021

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

22. April 15, 2021

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

23. April 15, 2021

    Coauthors revised.

24. April 08, 2021

    Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS.

25. April 07, 2021

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

26. January 11, 2021

    Referred to Com. on ELECTIONS.

27. December 08, 2020

    From printer. May be heard in committee January 7.

28. December 07, 2020

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Marc Berman · Primary
• Sabrina Cervantes · Cosponsor
• Thomas J. Umberg · Cosponsor
• Benjamin Allen · Cosponsor
• Quirk · Cosponsor
• Steve Bennett · Cosponsor
• Ash Kalra · Cosponsor
• Mayes · Cosponsor
• Mullin · Cosponsor
• Newman · Cosponsor
• Jeff Gonzalez · Cosponsor

Votes

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