Secretary of State Submits Request to Change Voter Database Regulations

SACRAMENTO – In the wake of a legal opinion issued by the Legislative Counsel of California on Tuesday night, the Secretary of State has filed new emergency regulations with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to amend his previous regulations that have prevented thousands of eligible Californians from registering to vote.

After refusing for three weeks to fix the problem, the Secretary has finally acknowledged that his regulations and his deal with the Bush Administration are what caused the problems that have prevented thousands of eligible Californians from registering to vote,” said Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), the chairwoman of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee.

According to the legal opinion issued Tuesday night by the Legislative Counsel of California:



the Secretary of State has the authority under existing federal and state law to adopt regulations that, pursuant to appropriate safeguards to protect the accuracy and integrity of voter registration data, would allow state and local elections officials to correct erroneous information regarding a driver’s license or social security number contained in a voter affidavit of registration, or, if that information is not provided by the affiant, to add that information to the affidavit.”



The Secretary of State has been saying for weeks that his hands are tied by the law and he can’t do anything to fix a problem that his deal with the Bush Administration in fact created,” noted Bowen. “I’m glad he’s realized it’s time to interpret the law in a way the voters deserve, which is to make it as easy as possible for eligible Californians to register to vote, instead of putting bureaucratic roadblock after roadblock in their way.”

The Secretary of State filed his emergency regulations with OAL today, explaining:



these amendments are needed immediately to permit the elections officials to utilize driver’s license or state identification numbers identified by Calvalidator and complete these registrations so that eligible voters do not experience delays in the voter registration process and will be permitted to vote regular ballots on Election Day . . . To adequately prepare for the election, and to ensure that delays in registering to vote do not penalize voters, the voter registration process requires this flexibility.”



A full copy of the new emergency regulations can be found at:

http://www.oal.ca.gov/emergency%20postings/06-0419-02%20SOS.pdf

This is in direct contrast to the Secretary’s April 5th explanation that accompanied his request to extend the emergency regulations he first issued on December 12, 2005, that led to thousands of eligible Californians being denied the right to vote:



the Secretary of State has concluded that the need for changes or additions to the regulations may only become apparent once their functionality has been observed in the course of an actual election. Accordingly, the Secretary of State has determined that it is in the best interests of the voters of this state to readopt the emergency regulations prior to their current expiration deadline, and wait until after the June 6, 2006, election to begin the process of revising the regulations and implementing them on a permanent basis.”



I’m glad the Secretary of State has changed his mind and realized it’s not in the ‘best interests’ of the voters to sit on his hands and continue relying on a system that’s preventing thousands of eligible voters from registering to vote,” said Bowen.

The State Constitution ensures that everyone who is a U.S. citizen, is 18-years-old, is a resident of California, and isn’t in prison, on parole for a felony conviction, or mentally incompetent has a right to register to vote in this state,” noted Bowen. “The Secretary of State should be focused on upholding the Constitutional right that every eligible California voter is entitled to instead of working with the Bush Administration to make it more difficult for people to register to vote.”

On April 6, the Senate Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee held a three-hour hearing on the problems that have resulted from the Secretary of State’s regulations and data matching standards, though the Secretary declined to take part in the hearing. During her testimony, Wendy Weiser of Brennan Center for Justice noted the Secretary of State has adopted the most restrictive standards in the country that are preventing “thousands and thousands” of eligible voters from being able to register to vote.