Compare Versions


Bill PDF |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | print page

AB-2249 Elections: retention of election records.(2023-2024)



Current Version: 06/20/24 - Amended Senate

Compare Versions information image


AB2249:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  June 20, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  June 05, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2249

Introduced by Assembly Member Pellerin

February 08, 2024

An act to amend Sections 17300, 17301, 17302, 17303, 17304, 17305, and 17306 of, and to add Section 17504 to, the Elections Code, relating to elections.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2249, as amended, Pellerin. Elections: retention of election records.
Under existing law, specified election materials, including voted ballots, vote by mail voter identification envelopes, and spoiled ballots, must be kept by county elections officials for 22 months for elections involving a federal office or for 6 months for all other elections. Existing law requires the packages containing these materials to remain unopened for the 22-month or 6-month period, as applicable. Under existing law, if a contest or criminal prosecution involving fraudulent use, marking or falsification of ballots, or forgery of vote by mail voters’ signatures is not commenced within the 22-month period for federal elections or within the 6-month period for all other elections, the county elections official must destroy or recycle those specified election materials.
This bill would add, among other things, paper cast vote records, completed forms issued to the precinct board and machine reports used to account for ballots delivered to the polling place, and completed forms issued to the counting board and machine reports used for the One Percent Manual Tally to the list of materials that county elections officials are required to keep. The bill would also provide that if the materials that a county elections official is required to keep are destroyed or damaged due to natural disaster or other unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances before the applicable retention period, the county elections official must take all reasonable steps to prevent further damage to those materials. The bill would provide that if a county elections official cannot prevent further damage to the election materials without inspecting the inside of damaged packages, the official must seek a writ of mandate authorizing the official to inspect the inside of the packages and notify the Secretary of State of their intent to do so.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
By imposing additional duties on county elections officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 17300 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17300.
 (a) (1) The elections official shall preserve all rosters or combined rosters and voter lists as provided for in Section 14107, if applicable, until five years after the date of the election, after which they shall be destroyed by that official.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, if an electronic poll book is used, a copy of the electronic data file may be preserved in lieu of preserving a paper copy of the rosters or combined rosters and voter lists, if applicable.
(b) In lieu of preserving the original roster, the elections official may, by filming or other suitable method, record the original roster of voters and destroy the roster following the next subsequent general election.

SEC. 2.

 Section 17301 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17301.
 (a) The following provisions shall apply to those elections where candidates for one or more of the following offices are voted upon: President, Vice President, United States Senator, and United States Representative.
(b) The packages containing the following items shall be kept by the elections official, unopened and unaltered, for 22 months from the date of the election:
(1) Voted polling place ballots.
(2) Paper cast vote records, as defined by Section 19271, if any, of voted polling place ballots.
(3) Voted vote by mail voter ballots.
(4) Vote by mail voter identification envelopes.
(5) Voted provisional voter ballots.
(6) Voted conditional voter registration ballots.
(7) Provisional ballot voter identification envelopes, including conditional voter registration voter identification envelopes cast pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 2170.
(8) Spoiled ballots.
(9) Canceled ballots.
(10) Unused vote by mail ballots surrendered by the voter pursuant to Section 3015.
(c) If a contest is not commenced within the 22-month period, or if a criminal prosecution involving fraudulent use, marking or falsification of ballots, or forgery of vote by mail voters’ signatures is not commenced within the 22-month period, either of which may involve the vote of the precinct from which voted ballots were received, the elections official shall have the items identified in subdivision (b) destroyed or recycled. The packages shall otherwise remain unopened until the items are destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 3.

 Section 17302 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17302.
 (a) The following provisions shall apply to all state or local elections not provided for in subdivision (a) of Section 17301. An election is not deemed a state or local election if votes for candidates for federal office may be cast on the same ballot as votes for candidates for state or local office.
(b) The packages containing the following items shall be kept by the elections official, unopened and unaltered, for six months from the date of the election:
(1) Voted polling place ballots.
(2) Paper cast vote records, as defined by Section 19271, if any, of voted polling place ballots.
(3) Voted vote by mail voter ballots.
(4) Vote by mail voter identification envelopes.
(5) Voted provisional voter ballots.
(6) Voted conditional voter registration ballots.
(7) Provisional ballot voter identification envelopes, including conditional voter registration voter identification envelopes cast pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 2170.
(8) Spoiled ballots.
(9) Canceled ballots.
(10) Unused vote by mail ballots surrendered by the voter pursuant to Section 3015.
(c) If a contest is not commenced within the six-month period, or if a criminal prosecution involving fraudulent use, marking or falsification of ballots, or forgery of vote by mail voters’ signatures is not commenced within the six-month period, either of which may involve the vote of the precinct from which voted ballots were received, the elections official shall have the items identified in subdivision (b) destroyed or recycled. The packages shall otherwise remain unopened until the items are destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 4.

 Section 17303 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17303.
 (a) The following provisions apply to those elections in which candidates for one or more of the following offices are voted upon: President, Vice President, United States Senator, and United States Representative.
(b) The elections official shall preserve the package or packages containing the following items for a period of 22 months:
(1) Two tally sheets, if the precinct manually tabulates ballots under Section 14432.
(2) The challenge lists.
(3) The assisted voters’ list.
(4) Completed forms issued to the precinct board and any machine reports used to account for the ballots delivered to the polling place pursuant to Section 14405.
(5) Completed forms issued to the counting board and any machine reports used for the One Percent Manual Tally provided for in Article 5 (commencing with Section 15360) of Chapter 4 of Division 15.
(c) All voters may inspect the contents of the package or packages at all times following commencement of the official canvass of the votes, except that items that contain signatures of voters may not be copied or distributed.
(d) If a contest is not commenced within the 22-month period, or if a criminal prosecution involving fraudulent use, marking, or falsification of ballots, or forgery of vote by mail voters’ signatures is not commenced within the 22-month period, either of which may involve the vote of the precinct from which voted ballots were received, the elections official shall have the items identified in subdivision (b) destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 5.

 Section 17304 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17304.
 (a) The following provisions apply to all state or local elections not provided for in subdivision (a) of Section 17303. An election is not deemed a state or local election if votes for candidates for federal office may be cast on the same ballot as votes for candidates for state or local office.
(b) The elections official shall preserve the package or packages containing the following items for a period of six months:
(1) Two tally sheets, if the precinct manually tabulates ballots under Section 14432.
(2) The challenge lists.
(3) The assisted voters’ list.
(4) Completed forms issued to the precinct board and any machine reports used to account for the ballots delivered to the polling place pursuant to Section 14405.
(5) Completed forms issued to the counting board and any machine reports used for the One Percent Manual Tally provided for in Article 5 (commencing with Section 15360) of Chapter 4 of Division 15.
(c) All voters may inspect the contents of the package or packages at all times following commencement of the official canvass of the votes, except that items that contain signatures of voters may not be copied or distributed.
(d) If a contest is not commenced within the six-month period, or if a criminal prosecution involving fraudulent use, marking or falsification of ballots, or forgery of vote by mail voters’ signatures is not commenced within the six-month period, either of which may involve the vote of the precinct from which voted ballots were received, the elections official shall have the items identified in subdivision (b) destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 6.

 Section 17305 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17305.
 (a) The following provisions apply to those elections where candidates for one or more of the following offices are voted upon: President, Vice President, United States Senator, and United States Representative.
(b) Upon the completion of the counting of the votes as provided in Article 4 (commencing with Section 15640) of Chapter 9 of Division 15, all items specified in subdivision (b) of Section 17301 shall be kept by the elections official for 22 months from the date of the election or so long thereafter as any contest involving the vote at the election remains undetermined.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the final disposition of all items specified in subdivision (b) of Section 17301 shall be determined by the elections official.
(d) Sealed ballot containers shall not be opened unless the elections official determines it is necessary in a shredding or recycling process. This section shall not be construed to allow packages or containers to be opened except for purposes specified herein. The packages or containers shall otherwise remain unopened until the ballots are destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 7.

 Section 17306 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

17306.
 (a) The following provisions shall apply to all state or local elections not provided for in subdivision (a) of Section 17305. An election is not deemed a state or local election if votes for candidates for federal office may be cast on the same ballot as votes for candidates for state or local office.
(b) Upon the completion of the counting of the votes as provided in Article 4 (commencing with Section 15640) of Chapter 9 of Division 15, all items specified in subdivision (b) of Section 17302 shall be kept by the elections official for six months from the date of the election or so long thereafter as any contest involving the vote at the election remains undetermined.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the final disposition of all items specified in subdivision (b) of Section 17302 shall be determined by the elections official.
(d) Sealed ballot containers shall not be opened unless the elections official determines it is necessary in a shredding or recycling process. This section shall not be construed to allow packages or containers to be opened except for purposes specified herein. The packages or containers shall otherwise remain unopened until the ballots are destroyed or recycled.

SEC. 8.

 Section 17504 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

17504.
 (a) If items that are required to be preserved or kept pursuant to this division are destroyed or damaged due to natural disaster or other unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances before the end of the applicable retention period, the elections official shall take all reasonable steps to prevent further damage to those items.
(b) If the elections official cannot prevent further damage to election records without inspecting the inside of any damaged packages that are required by this division to be kept unopened and unaltered, the elections official shall do both of the following:
(1) Notify the Secretary of State of the election official’s intent to seek a writ of mandate authorizing them to inspect the inside of the packages.
(2) Seek the mandate described in paragraph (1). (1), which shall name the Secretary of State as respondent.

SEC. 9.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 2 and 3 of this act, which amend Sections 17301 and 17302 of the Elections Code, impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
In order ensure election integrity, it is necessary that certain election records are not accessible to the public except when an election is contested or during certain criminal prosecutions.

SEC. 9.SEC. 10.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.