Voter registration: residency confirmation.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not specify an effective date, leaving this as an unknown.

Voter Registration: Residency Confirmation

This law requires county elections officials to confirm voter residency by using postal service data and sending postcards, and mandates additional steps if a voter has not voted in four years.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Secretary of State or county elections official to contract with the U.S. Postal Service for change-of-address data.
• Mails a postcard to each registered voter to confirm their residency address.
• Includes the return address of the county elections office on voter information guides and envelopes sent in the last six months before confirmation starts.
• Sends an alternative residency postcard if a voter has not voted in four years and hasn't updated their residence address, name, or party preference.

Who It Names or Affects

• Registered voters who need to confirm their residency address.
• County elections officials responsible for confirming voter addresses.
• The U.S. Postal Service, which provides change-of-address data.

Terms To Know

State-mandated local program

A program where the state requires counties to perform certain tasks but pays some of the costs.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It is unclear how much additional cost this will impose on county elections offices.
• Reimbursement for mandated costs depends on a decision by the Commission on State Mandates.

Official Summary Text

SB 408, as amended, Choi.
Voter registration: residency confirmation.
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.
As an alternative to mailing a postcard to each registered voter of the county, existing law authorizes the Secretary of State or the county elections official to contract with the United States Postal Service or its licensees to obtain use of postal service change-of-address data. As another alternative to mailing a postcard to each registered voter of the county, existing law authorizes the county elections official to include the return address of the county elections official’s office on the outside portion of the county voter information guide or county voter information guide envelope mailed to the voter for an election conducted within the last 6 months preceding the start of the
confirmation process. In the event a voter has not voted in an election within the preceding 4 years, and the voter’s information, including residence address, has not been updated during that time, the county elections official may send an alternate residency postcard to the voter, as specified.
This bill would instead require the Secretary of State or the county elections official, in addition to mailing a residency a postcard to each registered voter of the county, to contract with the United States Postal Service or its licensees to obtain use of postal service change-of-address data.
The bill would also require the county elections official, in addition to mailing a residency a postcard to each registered voter of the county, to include the return address of the county elections official’s office on the outside portion of the county voter information guide or county voter information guide envelope mailed to the voter for an election conducted within the last 6
months preceding the start of the confirmation process. The bill would further require the county elections official to mail an alternative residency postcard to each registered voter if they have not voted in an election within the previous 4 years, and if their residence address, name, or party preference has not been updated during that time.
By requiring county elections officials to provide a higher level or service, 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