San Diego election official finds SB 450 “an exciting piece of legislation,” but wants to know more of the details of the proposal before he gives it his support.

You can read an analysis of this bill from the Office of Senate Floor Analyses in the Senate Rules Committee of the current version of SB 450 here. 

The smart money in Sacramento and around the state is saying that this bill will be modified in the coming days, but no one is yet sure what’s going to happen overall or exactly what the final version of the bill might contain.  It may be emerging as the nucleus of a larger attempt to re-make the state’s electoral system, including further efforts to increase voter registration via  AB1461, and the upgrading of the voting equipment to be used in the “vote centers” that would replace traditional but sorely-underutilized-of-late precinct/neighborhood polling place under the expected terms of the new version of SB 450 that will be crafted in the Assembly under the direction of Senators Allen and Hertzberg, their counterparts in the Assembly, and Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the bill's sponsor.

Michael Vu, the Registrar of Voters of San Diego County, today called SB 450 (in its still-to-be-determined, conceptual form) “an exciting piece of legislation.”  He also called it “a step in the right direction,” and “a win-win in multiple ways,” adding, “as long as it’s done right.”

He was the second California county Registrar (or Assistant Registrar) of Voters today to recommend a call to Neal Kelly, Registrar of Voters of Orange County and the President of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO) for a better idea of the entire group’s take on this bill.  He also suggested contacting Ben Allen, the California State Senator from Santa Monica who is the lead author of the bill.  Those follow-ups will be reported upon here as they materialize.