Bill > S1972

Introduced Session

This bill changes current law to enable a registered voter to vote by mail-in ballot in all future elections or for future general elections only. The bill also provides that, if a voter who requested a mail-in ballot for all future elections does not vote by such means in four consecutive elections, the voter will receive a mail-in ballot for future general elections only and the ability of the voter to receive a mail-in ballot for all other elections would be suspended until the voter submits a new application indicating that the voter wishes to vote in all future elections. Under current law, a registered voter can choose to vote by mail-in ballot in all future general elections, until the voter notifies the county clerk that the voter no longer wishes to do so, or unless the voter fails to vote in the fourth general election following the general election in which the voter last voted. Current law also gives the registered voter who applies for a mail-in ballot the option to receive a mail-in ballot for each election occurring in the remainder of that calendar year. Current law provides that if a voter who has requested a mail-in ballot for future general elections only does not vote in the fourth general election following the general election at which the voter last voted, the county clerk will send a notice to that voter to ascertain whether he or she continues to reside at the address from which that voter is registered to vote. The bill provides that if the notice is not completed and returned before the next subsequent general election, a mail-in ballot will not be sent to the voter for that general election. The ability of such a voter to receive a mail-in ballot for future general elections only would be suspended until the voter submits a new application for such a ballot that indicates that the voter wishes to receive a mail-in ballot for all future elections, or for future general elections only. Finally, the bill: 1) provides that a sample ballot for an election would not be sent to any qualified voter who has applied for and has been sent a mail-in ballot for that election; 2) requires the Secretary of State to update the Statewide Voter Registration System to allow the postal tracking of mail-in ballots using Intelligent Mail barcodes, or a similar successor tracking system; 3) reformats the text of the required public notice concerning the use of mail-in ballots that appears in newspapers before an election; and 4) permits the clerk of each county to use an alternative mail-in ballot certification that permits the voter to certify the correctness of the identifying information contained on the label of the ballot instead of requiring the voter to provide the voter's name and address on the certification.

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Committee Categories

Jim Beach (D)*,  Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*, 

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (on 01/23/2017)