AB 503 gives meaning to one person, one vote by removing barriers to counting votes for write-in candidates

SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Marty Block announced today that his legislation, AB 503, a bill to protect the people’s vote by ensuring all ballots are counted for write-in candidates, has been approved by the Governor.  The new law will provide that all write-in votes for a qualified candidate, where the voter’s intent is clear, will be counted, even if the voter does not fill in the “bubble” next to the corresponding space.

“A cornerstone of our democracy is the tenet of ‘one person, one vote,’ and to maintain the integrity of our elections it is important to uphold this principle by counting every vote. This includes counting votes for write-in candidates when the voter’s intent is clear” said Assemblymember Block. “Voters who support write-in candidates have an additional burden placed on them that is not consistent with all voting mechanisms. This new law remedies this problem.”

Under current law, a voter voting for a qualified write-in candidate rather than a candidate listed on the ballot must write the candidate’s name in the line for that office. The voter must also perform an additional step of marking the “bubble” or similar voting space next to that line. If a voter writes the name of the qualified write-in candidate in the line for that office but fails to mark the bubble on the ballot, the vote is not counted even though the voter’s intent is clear. In the past, judges have cited this law in their rulings, thereby denying votes from being counted where the voter’s intent was clear.

In 2004, San Diego mayoral candidate Donna Frye had more than 5,500 votes tossed out by a judge, Michael Brenner, because the voters wrote her name in the proper line but did not fill in the bubble next to the write-in line. Without these votes, the second place candidate was certified the winner of the election.  The judge acknowledged in his ruling that these voters have an extra burden placed on them because of a literal reading of the elections code that instructs them how to count a write in vote for an optical scan ballot. This burden doesn’t exist for write-in candidates on touch-screen voting, punch-card systems, or other voting mechanisms under the elections code.
AB 503 ensures that votes for qualified write-in candidates will be counted if the intent of the voter can be determined, even if the voter did not mark the bubble or similar voting space next to the write-in space on the ballot. A voter who clearly casts a ballot for a qualified write-in candidate is entitled to have that vote counted.

The provisions of this bill, which take effect on January 1, 2012, would only be in effect when the number of ballots where no vote for a particular office was recorded during the electronic tabulation process combined with the tallied votes for the write-in candidate could mathematically change the outcome of that election.  This measure will ensure that the intent of voters, who write-in candidates, is carried out when their vote could change the outcome of the election.

AB 503 is sponsored by Secretary of State, Debra Bowen. It is supported by Californians Aware, California Common Cause, California National Organization for Women, the League of Women Voters, and the Environmental Health Coalition.

CONTACT: Margaret Pena, (916) 201-6616