Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide specific details on how many voters will be affected or which geographic areas will be identified, leaving these points uncertain.

Making Sure Vote-by-Mail Ballots Are Counted

This law requires the Secretary of State to identify areas where vote-by-mail ballots deposited on election day may not be postmarked until the next day due to postal service practices, and mandates local elections officials to inform voters in these areas.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Secretary of State to find geographic areas where mail collected on election day might not get a postmark until the following day because of how the postal service works there.
• Needs the Secretary of State to put this list online and give it to local election offices.
• Tells local election offices to add a notice about potential delays in postmarks for voters who live in these areas.

Who It Names or Affects

• Voters who send their ballots by mail on election day and live in certain geographic areas.
• Local elections officials who need to inform voters about potential delays in postmarks.
• The Secretary of State's office which must identify these areas and publish the list.

Terms To Know

Postmark

A mark on a piece of mail that shows when it was sent out by the postal service.

State-mandated local program

When the state government tells local governments to do something, and if there are costs involved, the state has to pay for them.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify which geographic areas will be identified.
• It is unclear how many voters will actually be affected by this change in postmarking practices.

Official Summary Text

AB 2105, as introduced, Macedo.
Elections: vote by mail ballots.
Existing law provides that ballots cast in all-mailed ballot elections are considered timely cast if they are received by the voter’s elections official no later than 7 days after election day if specified conditions are satisfied, including that the ballot is postmarked on or before election day.
This bill would require the Secretary of State to identify geographic areas where a vote by mail ballot deposited with the United States Postal Service on election day may not receive a postmark until the following day because of mail collection and processing practices in that region, as specified. The bill would require that the Secretary publish the list of identified geographic areas on its internet website and provide it to local elections officials, as specified. The bill would require a local elections official to include a notice in a vote by
mail ballot mailed to a voter whose residence is in an identified area. By imposing new duties on local elections officials, the 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