Vote by mail ballot tracking.

Existing law requires that the vote by mail ballot be made available to any registered voter. Existing law requires a county elections official to establish a free access system that allows a vote by mail voter to learn if his or her vote by mail ballot was counted and, if not, the reason why the ballot was not counted. Existing federal law, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) , provides federal funding for states to carry out specified activities, such as improving voting systems and technology and methods for casting and counting votes. This bill would require the Secretary of State to establish a system that a county elections official may use to allow a vote by mail voter to track and receive information about his or her vote by mail ballot through the mail system and as the vote by mail ballot is processed by the county elections official. The bill would require the Secretary of State to make the system available for use by each county and would authorize a county to use the system to satisfy the requirement to establish the existing free access system described above. The bill would require the Secretary of State to use federal funds provided to the state pursuant to HAVA to develop the system, and would require the Secretary of State to implement these provisions only to the extent that these funds are available.