League
OPPOSES
SB1090
(Ugenti-Rita) -- new rules regarding emergency voting
Currently,
early voting must end by 5 pm the Friday before an election. In an emergency in which a voter feels he/she will not be able to vote on election day, a
voter
may request to vote
after
the Friday deadline.
Each county recorder regulates the manner in which qualified electors may vote
in an emergency setting up places/times and vetting procedures.
Proposed change:
The use of emergency voting would require voters to have a
sworn affidavit
that they had an unavoidable emergency preventing them from voting on Election Day, and they would have to provide ID as for voting in person.
And
the
County Board of Supervisors would now be the authority to
authorize the emergency voting center(s) location/hours, via a specific resolution for
each
election,
Why League opposes: In short, it creates another obstacle to voting.
1) Creates another layer of bureaucracy for no discernible good reason: the Bd. of Supervisors is not involved in the daily business of elections; 2) Suspicion of the motives of those voting early is suggestive of big-brother-oversight; 3) For those counties using voting centers and poll books (non-paper voting rolls), there really is no reason to require an early-voting deadline.
4)
Nearly 3,000 voters used emergency voting to cast their ballot last year, who presumably would have been unable to vote otherwise. This strips away the ability for elections officials to improve the voter experience and bring elections into the 21st century
