Ballot Harvesting Law in California

In 2016 California Democrats (Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, Assembly Chair, Shirley Weber: Current Secretary of State of CA) passed a law allowing anybody to collect and return mail-in ballots. The bill authorizes any person, including complete strangers, to return the vote by mail ballot and would specifically authorize a paid or volunteer worker of a general purpose committee, controlled committee, or any other group or organization at whose behest the designee is performing a service to return an individual's vote by mail ballot. BLIP That!

Two years later, in 2018, Democrats prohibited “disqualifying a ballot solely because the person returning it did not provide on the identification envelope his or her name, relationship to the voter, or signature.” The bill also prohibits a person designated to return a vote by mail ballot from receiving any form of compensation, as defined, based on the number of ballots that the person has returned and would prohibit an individual, group, or organization from providing compensation on this basis.

BILL NUMBER: AB 1921 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gonzalez

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 An act to amend Section 3017 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 3017 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 3017. (a) All vote by mail ballots cast under this division shall be voted on or before the day of the election. After marking the ballot, the vote by mail voter shall do any of the following: (1) return the ballot by mail or in person to the elections official from whom it came, (2) return the ballot in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction, or (3) return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came at a vote by mail ballot drop-off location, if provided pursuant to Section 3025. However, a vote by mail voter who is unable to return the ballot may designate his or her spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or a person residing in the same household as the vote by mail voter any person to return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came or to the precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction. The ballot must, however, be received by either the elections official from whom it came or the precinct board before the close of the polls on election day. (b) The elections official shall establish procedures to ensure the secrecy of a ballot returned to a precinct polling place and the security, confidentiality, and integrity of any personal information collected, stored, or otherwise used pursuant to this section. (c) On or before March 1, 2008, the elections official shall establish procedures to track and confirm the receipt of voted vote by mail ballots and to make this information available by means of online access using the county's elections division Internet Web site. If the county does not have an elections division Internet Web site, the elections official shall establish a toll-free telephone number that may be used to confirm the date a voted vote by mail ballot was received. (d) The provisions of this section are mandatory, not directory, and a ballot shall not be counted if it is not delivered in compliance with this section. (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a (1) A vote by mail voter's ballot shall not may be returned by a paid or volunteer worker of a general purpose committee, controlled committee, independent expenditure committee, political party, candidate's campaign committee, or any other group or organization at whose behest the individual designated to return the ballot is performing a service. However, this subdivision does not apply to a candidate or a candidate's spouse.

(2) (A) A person designated to return a vote by mail ballot shall not receive any form of compensation based on the number of ballots that the person has returned and no individual, group, or organization shall provide compensation on this basis. (B) For purposes of this paragraph, "compensation" means any form of monetary payment, goods, services, benefits, promises or offers of employment, or any other form of consideration offered to another person in exchange for returning another voter's vote by mail ballot.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/asm/ab_1901-1950/ab_1921_bill_20160211_introduced.html

Additional Links to articles:

Sacramento Report: Voting is a two-way street

KABC7: What is 'ballot harvesting' and how is it being used in California elections?

Find Law: California Code, Elections Code - ELEC § 3017

AP News: Ballot harvesting under scrutiny in California elections

BallotPedia: Ballot harvesting (ballot collection) laws by state

Wall Street Journal: California Ballot-Harvest Boomerang Opinion