Plain English Breakdown
The bill is an urgency statute taking effect immediately, but no specific effective date was provided in the metadata section of the source material.
Law Enforcement Investigations of Election Records and Voting Technology
AB-1664 requires local election officials to notify state leaders within one day if police investigate their voting records or machines, allows those leaders to challenge such actions in court, and ends on January 1, 2030.
What This Bill Does
- Requires local agencies, political subdivisions, or elections officials to send written notice immediately, but no later than one calendar day after learning of a warrant, subpoena, or active investigation into election records or certified voting technology they control.
- Sends this required notice to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.
- Allows the Secretary of State or the Attorney General to join court cases or start new ones to challenge warrants or subpoenas on valid grounds or seek other relief.
- Removes these rules on January 1, 2030.
Who It Names or Affects
- Local agencies and political subdivisions that manage elections
- Elections officials who hold custody of voting records or technology
- The Secretary of State
- The Attorney General
Terms To Know
- Warrant
- A legal document from a judge that allows law enforcement to search for specific items.
- Subpoena
- A court order requiring someone to provide documents or appear in court.
- Intervene
- To join an existing legal case as a participant.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill creates new duties for local officials, but the state will only reimburse costs if the Commission on State Mandates determines that such costs exist.
- The law expires on January 1, 2030, so these rules do not apply after that date.