California Assembly Bill AB1494 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1494AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 14, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2015 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine (  Coauthors:   Senators   Allen     and McGuire   Coauthor:   Senator   McGuire  ) FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act to amend Sections 14291, 18403, 18564, and 18564.5 of, and to repeal Section 14276 of, the Elections Code, relating to voting. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1494, as amended, Levine. Voting: marked ballots: distributing and sharing photographs and digital images. Existing law prohibits a voter from showing his or her ballot after it is marked in such a way as to reveal its contents. Existing law provides that a person who interferes or attempts to interfere with the secrecy of voting is guilty of a felony, and authorizes the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, or a local elections official to bring an action to impose additional civil penalties for committing those acts. This bill would authorize a voter to take a photograph or digital image of his or her marked ballot and distribute or share that photograph or digital image using social media or by any other means, unless the voter does so for certain prohibited purposes. The bill would exempt these authorized acts from the criminal and civil penalties described above. The bill would also repeal a duplicative provision. Under existing law, any person other than an elections official or a member of the precinct board who receives a voted ballot from a voter or who examines or solicits the voter to show his or her voted ballot is guilty of an offense punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or by both fine and imprisonment. Existing law exempts from this crime a person returning a vote by mail ballot or persons assisting a voter. The bill would also exempt from that crime a person examining or soliciting a voter to show a photograph or digital image of his or her marked ballot that has been distributed or shared using social media or by other means. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 14276 of the Elections Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 14291 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 14291. (a) After the ballot is marked, a voter shall not show it to any person in such a way as to reveal its contents, except as provided in subdivision (b). (b) A voter may take a photograph or digital image of his or her marked ballot and distribute or share the photograph or digital image using social media or by any other means. A photograph or digital image taken and distributed or shared pursuant to this subdivision shall not be used to coerce or intimidate a voter, impede a voter's ability to vote, cause voter delay in a polling place, disrupt a polling place, or result in a monetary or tangible benefit for any purpose. SEC. 3. Section 18403 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 18403. Any person other than an elections official or a member of the precinct board who receives a voted ballot from a voter or who examines or solicits the voter to show his or her voted ballot is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), 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. This section does not apply to persons returning a vote by mail ballot pursuant to Sections 3017 and 3021, to persons assisting a voter pursuant to Section 14282, or to persons examining or soliciting a voter to show a photograph or digital image of a ballot that has been distributed or shared pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 14291. SEC. 4. Section 18564 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 18564. Any person is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for two, three, or four years who, before or during an election: (a) Tampers with, interferes with, or attempts to interfere with, the correct operation of, or willfully damages in order to prevent the use of,  any   a  voting machine, voting device, voting system, vote tabulating device, or ballot tally software program source codes. (b) Interferes or attempts to interfere with the secrecy of voting, except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 14291, or ballot tally software program source codes. (c) Knowingly, and without authorization, makes or has in his or her possession a key to a voting machine that has been adopted and will be used in elections in this state. (d) Willfully substitutes or attempts to substitute forged or counterfeit ballot tally software program source codes. SEC. 5. Section 18564.5 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 18564.5. (a) The Secretary of State, Attorney General, and any local elections official in the county in which the act occurs, may bring a civil action against an individual, business, or other legal entity that commits any of the following acts before, during, or after an election: (1) Tampers, interferes, or attempts to interfere with the correct operation of, or willfully damages in order to prevent the use of,  any   a  voting machine, voting device, voting system, vote tabulating device, or ballot tally software. (2) Interferes or attempts to interfere with the secrecy of voting, except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 14291, or interferes or attempts to interfere with ballot tally software program source codes. (3) Knowingly, and without authorization, gains access to or provides another person or persons with access to a voting machine for the purpose of committing one of the acts specified by this section. (4) Willfully substitutes or attempts to substitute forged, counterfeit, or malicious ballot tally software program source codes. (5) Knowingly, and without authorization, inserts or causes the insertion of uncertified hardware, software, or firmware, for whatever purpose, into  any   a  voting machine, voting device, voting system, vote tabulating device, or ballot tally software. (6) Fails to notify the Secretary of State prior to any change in hardware, software, or firmware to a voting machine, voting device, voting system, or vote tabulating device, certified or conditionally certified for use in this state. (b) A civil action may be brought pursuant to this section for a civil penalty not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each act and for injunctive relief, if appropriate.