Elections: notice.

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Elections: Notice of Address Changes

This law requires county elections officials to take additional steps when they find out a voter's mailing address is different from their home address and the mailing address is no longer valid.

What This Bill Does

• Requires county elections officials to update voter registration records if new mailing addresses are found through change-of-address data.
• Sends forwardable notices to voters at their new addresses when available.
• Notifies voters at their physical residences if they can receive mail there and removes invalid mailing addresses from the record.
• Sends a specific notice to voters' old mailing addresses if no new address is found and they cannot be reached at home.

Who It Names or Affects

• County elections officials
• Registered voters

Terms To Know

State-mandated local program

A program that the state requires counties to follow, which may need funding from the state.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost or who will pay for these new duties.
• It is unclear if all voters will be notified in every situation described by the law.

Official Summary Text

AB 1610, as amended, Ransom.
Elections: notice.
Existing law requires a county elections official to take various actions to confirm voters’ residency, including by, among other things, mailing a postcard to each registered voter of the county or obtaining change-of-address data from the United States Postal Service. If the postcard is returned by the post office as undeliverable and the voter has no forwarding address, or if the change-of-address data indicates that the voter has moved and left no forwarding address, existing law requires the county elections official to update the voter’s registration status to inactive and mail notice to the voter of that change.
This bill would require a county elections official to take the following additional steps to provide notice to a voter when United States Postal Service data indicates a voter has a mailing address that is different from the
voter’s residence address and the mailing address is no longer valid: 1) if a new mailing address is available via change-of-address data, the elections official would be required to update the voter’s registration record with the new mailing address and send a forwardable notice to the new address to confirm the change; 2) if a new mailing address is not identified and the voter can receive mail at their physical residence, the elections official would be required to send notice to the voter’s physical residence and remove the invalid mailing address from the record; or, 3) if a new mailing address is not identified and the voter cannot receive mail at their physical residence, the elections official would be required to send a specified notice to the voter’s mailing address on the voter’s registration record.
By increasing the duties of county elections officials, 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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF