Elections: voting.

Under existing law, if there are 250 or fewer persons registered to vote in a precinct on the 88th day before the election, an elections official may furnish to each voter in the precinct a vote by mail ballot, along with a statement that there will be no polling place for the election. This bill would specify that an elections official sending a vote by mail ballot and a statement that there will be no polling place for the election to a voter must also include with those materials a statement explaining why there will be no polling place for the election and instructions on timely submitting a vote by mail ballot. Under existing law, if for a valid reason, an elections official changes the location of a polling place, the elections official may mail a notice to each voter in the precinct if there is sufficient time to receive it before the election. If the need to change the polling place is not known in sufficient time to mail a notice, existing law requires that the new polling place be within one mile of the original polling place and that notice of the change be posted on or near the original polling place. This bill would instead provide that an elections official changing the location of the polling place must mail notice of the change to each voter in the precinct not less than 7 days prior to the election. If a change in the polling place is not known in sufficient time to permit a mailing, the bill would specify that the new polling place be within the boundaries of the precinct.