BILL NUMBER: AB 245 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 12, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lackey
FEBRUARY 9, 2015
An act to amend Section 14026 Sections
18544 and 18545 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 245, as amended, Lackey. California Voting Rights Act
of 2001. Elections: penal provisions.
Existing law prohibits a person in possession of a firearm,
uniformed peace officer, private guard, or security personnel from
being stationed or posted at a polling place without written
authorization of the appropriate elections official. Violation of
this provision is punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000,
imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or 2 or 3 years, or in
a county jail for not more than one year, or by both fine and
imprisonment.
Existing law prohibits the hiring of or arranging for a person in
possession of a firearm, uniformed peace officer, private guard, or
security personnel to be stationed or posted at a polling place
without written authorization of the appropriate elections official.
Violation of this provision is punishable by a fine not exceeding
$10,000, imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or 2 or 3
years, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both
fine and imprisonment.
This bill would increase the maximum fine for those offenses to
$16,000 and require that the fine amount be adjusted annually by any
annual increase in the California Consumer Price Index, as described.
The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA) prohibits the use
of an at-large election in a political subdivision if it would impair
the ability of a protected class, as defined, to elect candidates of
its choice or otherwise influence the outcome of an election. The
CVRA provides that a violation of the act is established if it is
shown that racially polarized voting, as defined, has occurred, and
provides that the occurrence of racially polarized voting shall be
determined from examining the results of elections in which at least
one candidate is a member of a protected class or elections involving
ballot measures or other electoral choices that affect the rights
and privileges of members of a protected class. The CVRA provides
that a voter who is a member of a protected class, as specified, may
bring an action in superior court to enforce the provisions of the
CVRA, and, if the voter prevails in the case, he or she may be
awarded reasonable litigation costs and attorney's fees.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to
provisions of law defining several terms for purposes of the CVRA.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 18544 of the
Elections Code is amended to read:
18544. (a) Any It is unlawful for a
person in possession of a firearm or any , a
uniformed peace officer, private guard, or security
personnel person or any person who is wearing a
uniform of a peace officer, guard, or security personnel
person , who is to be
stationed in the immediate vicinity of, or posted at, a polling
place without written authorization of the appropriate city or
county elections official . Violation of this section is
punishable by a fine not exceeding ten
sixteen thousand dollars ($10,000)
($16,000) , by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 1170 of the Penal Code for 16 months or two or three years,
or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and
imprisonment. The fine amount shall be adjusted annually by any
annual increase in the California Consumer Price Index, as determined
pursuant to Section 2212 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(b) This section shall does not
apply to any of the following:
(1) An unarmed uniformed guard or security personnel
person who is at the polling place to cast his
or her vote.
(2) A peace officer who is conducting official business in the
course of his or her public employment or who is at the polling place
to cast his or her vote.
(3) A private guard or security personnel
person hired or arranged for by a city or county elections
official.
(4) A private guard or security personnel
person hired or arranged for by the owner or manager of the
facility or property in which the polling place is located if the
guard or security personnel person is
not hired or arranged solely for the day on which an election is
held.
SEC. 2. Section 18545 of the Elections
Code is amended to read:
18545. Any person who hires or arranges for any other
It is unlawful for a person to hire or arrange for a
person in possession of a firearm or any
, a uniformed peace officer, private guard, or
security personnel person or any person
who is wearing a uniform of a peace officer, guard, or security
personnel person , to be stationed in
the immediate vicinity of, or posted at, a polling place without
written authorization of the appropriate elections official .
Violation of this section is punishable by a fine not exceeding
ten sixteen thousand dollars
($10,000) ($16,000) , by imprisonment pursuant
to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for 16 months or
two or three years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or
by both that fine and imprisonment. The fine amount shall be
adjusted annually by any annual increase in the California Consumer
Price Index, as determined pursuant to Section 2212 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code. This section shall
does not apply to the owner or manager of the facility or
property in which the polling place is located if the private guard
or security personnel person is not
hired or arranged solely for the day on which the election is held.
SECTION 1. Section 14026 of the Elections Code
is amended to read:
14026. As used in this chapter:
(a) "At-large method of election" means any of the following
methods of electing members to the governing body of a political
subdivision:
(1) One in which the voters of the entire jurisdiction elect the
members to the governing body.
(2) One in which the candidates are required to reside within
given areas of the jurisdiction and the voters of the entire
jurisdiction elect the members to the governing body.
(3) One which combines at-large elections with district-based
elections.
(b) "District-based elections" means a method of electing members
to the governing body of a political subdivision in which the
candidate must reside within an election district that is a divisible
part of the political subdivision and is elected only by voters
residing within that election district.
(c) "Political subdivision" means a geographic area of
representation created for the provision of government services,
including, but not limited to, a city, a school district, a community
college district, or other district organized pursuant to state law.
(d) "Protected class" means a class of voters who are members of a
race, color, or language minority group, as this class is defined in
the federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973 et seq.).
(e) "Racially polarized voting" means voting in which there is a
difference, as defined in case law regarding enforcement of the
federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973 et seq.), in the
choice of candidates or other electoral choices that are preferred by
voters in a protected class, and in the choice of candidates and
electoral choices that are preferred by voters in the rest of the
electorate. The methodologies for estimating group voting behavior as
approved in applicable federal cases to enforce the federal Voting
Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973 et seq.) to establish racially
polarized voting may be used for purposes of this section to prove
that elections are characterized by racially polarized voting.