Existing law requires the Secretary of State to adopt regulations requiring counties to design and implement programs intended to identify and register qualified voters who are not registered to vote. Existing law further requires the Secretary of State to adopt regulations prescribing minimum requirements for those programs. If the Secretary of State finds that a county has not designed and implemented a program meeting those minimum requirements, the Secretary of State must design the program for the county and report the violation to the Attorney General.

This bill would repeal the above provisions. The bill would instead require counties that do not conduct an election as an all-mailed ballot election, as specified, to design and implement a voter education and outreach plan to identify and register qualified voters who are not registered to vote. The bill would require such plans to provide information to the public about specified topics, such as vote by mail procedures and options for military and overseas voters. The bill would require county elections officials to submit amendments to their plans to the Secretary of State, who must make the current version of each plan available on the Secretary of State’s internet website. The bill would require the Secretary of State to provide county elections officials a template for their plans.

By imposing new duties on local elections officials, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.

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.