STATE CAPITOL
SACRAMENTO, CA 95814
(916) 651-4011
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California State Senate
E-MAIL
[email protected]
WEBSITE
http://www.sen.ca.gov/simitian
SENATOR
DISTRICT OFFICE
160 Town & Country Village
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 688-6384
Fax (650) 688-6370
SATELLITE OFFICE
701 Ocean Street, Room 318A
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 425-0401
Fax (831) 425-5124
S. JOSEPH SIMITIAN
ELEVENTH SENATE DISTRICT
Senate Bill 1342 (Simitian)
Precinct Sizes/Polling Places
Fact Sheet
Summary:
Current law caps the number of registered voters in a precinct at 1,000 without
regard to the number of permanent vote-by-mail (PVM) voters in the precinct.
SB 1342 allows local election officials to adjust precinct sizes to reflect the fact
that some areas of a county have high concentrations of PVM voters and relatively
few “election day” polling place voters, while other areas of the county have low
concentrations of PVM voters and relatively more “election day” polling place
voters. This is a good government measure that aims to allocate election day
resources equitably and efficiently.
The measure also makes it less likely that counties will unilaterally shrink precinct
sizes to fewer than 250 registered voters in order to impose vote-by-mail (VBM)
and eliminate the option of in-person voting at a polling place.
Need for the bill:
Currently, there are almost 6 million California voters registered as PVM voters
(about 33% of the statewide total). This growing trend, and the wide variances of
PVM voters from precinct to precinct, needs to be taken into account when
determining precinct size. Otherwise, long lines and waiting periods exist in some
polling places while other polling places sit almost empty.
SB 1342 does not impose a mandate; it simply provides counties with the
flexibility to take into account the rising numbers of PVM voters in California
when determining polling place locations. Specifically, SB 1342 allows local
elections officials to consider the number of PVM voters on a precinct by precinct
basis when establishing election precincts, and then adjust the precincts to better
serve areas with a higher concentration of voters who actually go to the polls and
vote in person.
If there are two precincts right next to one another and both are capped at 1,000
voters, yet one has 900 permanent vote by mail voters and the other only has 100
PVM voters, locals should have the ability to equalize and make adjustments,
rather than be forced to provide the same services on election day at both places
with limited resources.
Staff Contact: Taylor Glass @ (916) 651-4011 or [email protected]