Recall elections and voter registration.

(1) Existing law prohibits a person from being registered as a voter except by affidavit of registration. If a court finds that a person is not capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration, as specified, existing law provides that a person shall be deemed mentally incompetent and disqualified from voting. Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of conservatorships and creates various requirements for a court and a court investigator with regard to informing a proposed conservatee that he or she may be disqualified from voting if he or she is not capable of completing an affidavit of voter registration. This bill would prohibit a person, including a conservatee, from being disqualified from voting on the basis that the person signs the affidavit of voter registration with a mark or a cross, signs the affidavit of voter registration with a signature stamp, or completes the affidavit of voter registration with the assistance of another person. (2) Under existing law, if a vacancy occurs in an office after a recall petition is filed against the vacating officer, the recall election is required to proceed. The vacancy in that office is required to be filled as provided by law, but a person appointed to fill the vacancy holds office only until a successor is selected and qualifies for that office. This bill would provide that upon the occurrence of a vacancy, the elections official for each county in which a section of the recall petition has been filed is required to immediately verify the signatures on the petition submitted to the elections official as of the date of the vacancy. If the elections official verifies that a sufficient number of signatures were filed as of the date of the vacancy, the recall election would be required to proceed. If the elections official verifies that an insufficient number of signatures, or no signatures, were filed as of the date of the vacancy, the recall election would not proceed and the vacancy in the office that is the subject of the recall election would be filled as otherwise provided by law. The bill would delete the requirement that a person appointed to fill the vacancy holds office only until a successor is selected and instead would prohibit a person who was subject to a recall petition from being appointed to fill the vacancy in the office that he or she vacated or to fill any other vacancy in office on the same governing board for the duration of the term of office of the vacated seat.