Californians will be able to register to vote as late as Election Day, though not for a few years yet, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Golden State just last week implemented online voter registration, so as some states enact voter ID laws placing new strictures on voter access, California is heading in the opposite direction. AB 1436 by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-West Hollywood, will let a Californian vote with a provisional ballot if he or she presents a properly completed registration form at his or her county elections office in the 14 days up to and including Election Day. This law won’t take effect until the Secretary of State certifies VoteCal, the new statewide voter database; that’s expected to happen in 2015. The deadline to register for this November’s election remains Monday, Oct. 22. Under the new law, a voter’s registration information must match data on file with the California Department of Motor Vehicles or the Social Security Administration; if not, the voter will be issued a unique identification number in order to confirm his or her eligibility before the ballot is counted. Fraud on such a form would be punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $25,000 fine. The governor also signed bills Monday letting family members from the same household drop off each other’s vote-by-mail ballots at polling places, and letting county elections officials use information from credit-reporting.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, issued a statement saying California “once again leads the way for our nation” by affirming “our commitment to ensuring all citizens have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote in our democracy.” Actually, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia already permit same-day voter registration at most or all elections, while Connecticut and Rhode Island allow it for presidential elections only.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine, said California’s new law marks an ever-deepening divide between GOP-dominated states where new voter ID laws in the name of preventing fraud are making it harder for many, especially traditionally Democratic voters, to cast ballots, and Democrat-dominated states, which are expanding voter access. Democrats have a partisan motivation, too, he said: “Those voters who are least attached to the system — who move the most, who are poor, who are students — are the groups that have the most problems registering but are also the groups that are more likely to vote for Democrats.”
Full Article: Gov. Jerry Brown signs Election Day voter registration bill into law – San Jose Mercury News.