Pursuant to Elections Code Section 9005, we have reviewed a proposed initiative related to electronic voting in elections in California (A.G. File No. 15-0108, Amendment #1).

Background

Administration of Elections. Among other duties, the Secretary of State is California’s chief elections officer and oversees a variety of elements related to elections, including testing and certifying voting machines and compiling state election results. County elections officers administer elections and receive ballots (cast by voters either at a polling station or in the mail), count ballots, and report election results.

Proposal

The proposal seeks to establish an information technology system—subject to requirements established by the measure—that would allow people to vote in California elections from any electronic device or computer.

Fiscal Effects

This measure would have the following major fiscal effects:

• Increased costs to state and local governments to administer elections. These costs include (1) one-time costs—possibly tens of millions of dollars—to develop new information technology systems and (2) ongoing costs—possibly millions of dollars annually—to administer elections.