Elections: ballots.

Existing law permits a voter to return a vote by mail ballot either by mail to the elections official from whom it came or by personal delivery to the elections official or to a precinct board member at any polling place within the jurisdiction. Existing law also permits until January 1, 2011, a voter who is temporarily living outside of the territorial limits of the United States, the District of Columbia, or is called to military service, to return his or her vote by mail ballot by facsimile transmission to the elections official. The ballot has to be received by the closing of the election day polls and accompanied by an identification envelope and an oath of voter declaration in a prescribed form. Existing law requires a special absentee voter who returns a ballot by facsimile transmission to agree under penalty of perjury to waive his or her right to a secret ballot and that he or she has not applied for a vote by mail ballot from any other jurisdiction for the election. The elections official is required to determine the voter's eligibility to vote by comparing the voter's signature from the materials returned by facsimile transmission to the signature on the voter's affidavit of registration. This bill would extend these provisions permanently. Because the bill requires elections officials to provide a higher level of service and extends the crime of perjury on a permanent basis, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.