Special absentee voters.

Existing law provides that every voter, including a special absentee voter who is temporarily living outside of the United States or is called for military service within the United States, must return his or her ballot to the appropriate elections official by the close of the polls on election day to have that ballot counted. This bill would give a special absentee voter who is temporarily living outside of the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia, or who is called for military service within the United States on or after the final date to apply for a vote by mail ballot, 6 days after the election to return his or her ballot by mail to the appropriate elections official and have it counted. This bill would require an elections official, not later than 30 days following the certification of each election, to report to the Secretary of State information regarding the number of applications for absentee ballots, the number of absentee ballots delivered, and the number of absentee ballots received before and after election day. The Secretary of State would then have 45 days following the certification of the election to compile the information received and report to the appropriate policy committees of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would change the duties of elections officials, it 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, 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 these statutory provisions.