Cost-Saving Elections Bill First Defeated, Then Passed

On Tuesday, a bill which would have allowed counties to decide how to conduct special elections for Congress and the Legislature failed passage in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee. Assembly Bill 1873 (Gonzalez/Mullin) would have allowed an election to occur by absentee/mail-in-balloting if a county so desired. A number of requirements were placed into the bill to allow for a limited form of in-person voting. RCRC strongly supported this measure (and similar past legislation) as it would have saved counties money due to the requirement of poll workers and other in-person materials needed for voting.

Then, in an interesting turn of events, the Assembly waived the rules, and the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee heard the bill again on Thursday.  This time, the measure passed.

It should be noted that the bill only applies to special elections for Congress and the Legislature, which, in recent years, have had extremely low rates of in-person voting.

For additional information, please contact RCRC Senior Legislative Advocate Paul A. Smith at (916) 447-4806 orpsmith@rcrcnet.org.