Bill Text: CA AB1539 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 1539

Bill Title: Elections: double voting.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 692, Statutes of 2023. [AB1539 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1539-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 1539

CHAPTER 692

An act to add Section 18560.1 to the Elections Code, relating to elections.

[ Approved by Governor October 10, 2023. Filed with Secretary of State October 10, 2023. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1539, Berman. Elections: double voting.

Existing law permits a person to vote at any election held within the territory within which the person resides and the election is held if the person is qualified and registered to vote. If a person is entitled to vote at an election, existing law makes voting more than once, or attempting to vote more than once, a crime.

This bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to vote or to attempt to vote both in an election held in this state and in an election held in another state on the same date. The bill would not prohibit a voter from voting in an election held in this state and in another state if one of the elections is an election held in a landowner voting district or any other district for which an elector is not required to be a resident of the district. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

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

SECTION 1.

Section 18560.1 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

18560.1.

(a) A person who votes or attempts to vote in an election held in this state and in an election held in another state on the same date shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b) This section does not prohibit a voter from voting in an election held in this state and in an election held in another state on the same date if one of the elections is an election in a landowner voting district or any other district for which an elector is not required to be a resident of the district.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.