Bill Text: CA AB398 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Voting: replacement ballots.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 650, Statutes of 2023. [AB398 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB398-Introduced.html


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 398


Introduced by Assembly Member Pellerin

February 02, 2023


An act to amend Sections 3014 and 3109 of the Elections Code, relating to voting.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 398, as introduced, Pellerin. Voting: replacement ballots.
Existing law requires an elections official to provide a 2nd vote by mail voter ballot to any voter upon receipt of a statement under penalty of perjury that the voter has failed to receive, lost, or destroyed their original ballot.
This bill would remove the requirement that the voter provide a statement under penalty of perjury, and instead require the elections official to provide a replacement ballot upon request.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 3014 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

3014.
 (a) The elections official shall provide a second vote by mail voter replacement ballot to any voter upon receipt of a statement under penalty of perjury that the voter has failed to receive, lost, or destroyed their original ballot. replacement ballot request.
(b) The elections official shall provide a second vote by mail replacement ballot to the voter’s representative upon receipt of a written request, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State, signed by the voter under penalty of perjury, requesting that a ballot be provided to the voter’s representative. A ballot shall not be provided until both of the following occur:
(1) The elections official shall compare the signature on the written request with the signature or signatures in the voter’s record.
(2) The authorized representative shall sign an acknowledgment of receipt of the voter’s ballot.
(c) The voter shall mark the ballot, place it in the identification envelope, fill out and sign the identification envelope, and return the ballot pursuant to Section 3017. These ballots shall be processed and counted in the same manner as other vote by mail ballots.
(d) The elections official shall keep a record of each vote by mail voter ballot sent to and received from a voter and shall verify, prior to counting any duplicate ballot, that the voter has not attempted to vote twice. If it is determined that a voter has attempted to vote twice, both ballots shall be void.

SEC. 2.

 Section 3109 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

3109.
 If any military or overseas voter to whom a vote by mail ballot has been mailed and which ballot has not been voted by him or her them returns to the county in which he or she is they are registered, or for a military or overseas voter qualified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 321, to the county in which the applicant’s parent or legal guardian resided when the parent or legal guardian last lived within the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia on or before election day, he or she they may apply for a second vote by mail replacement ballot pursuant to Section 3014. The elections official shall then issue another vote by mail ballot to the voter, or the elections official shall certify to the precinct board that the voter is eligible to vote in the election.

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