Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Voter Services Election Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee advances bill requiring county online voter portals and QR codes on mail ballot materials
Summary
The Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections voted to do pass Assembly Bill 499, which would require county clerks to maintain online voter services portals, add QR codes to mail ballot envelopes and county communications, and require the DMV to provide certain voter information; the committee voted 4-0 with one member excused.
Assembly Bill 499, sponsored by Assembly Member Yeager, was advanced by the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections on May 22, 2025.
Pepper Sturm, committee policy analyst with Legislative Counsel Bureau Research, summarized the bill, saying it "requires county clerks to establish and maintain online voter services portal and requires mail ballot return envelopes and any communications from the county clerk to registered voters to include a QR code." Sturm also said the bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to "regularly send certain information relating to persons with a driver's license or ID card." Sturm noted that the sponsor is working on a proposed amendment.
Vice Chair Daley moved to do pass Assembly Bill 499; Majority Leader Cannizzaro seconded the motion. Senator Steinbeck said he would vote yes and reserved the right to change his position after consulting his caucus. The committee voted 4-0 in favor; Senator Krasner was excused.
Committee members discussed coordination with the Secretary of State's office. Vice Chair Daley said he was "assuming or hoping" the sponsor would work with the Secretary of State because that office had submitted recommendations that were "mostly parallel, but not all," and he said he hoped those recommendations would be included in an amendment.
Sturm told the committee that Speaker Yeager was still working on a proposed amendment and that the amendment summary in the work session packet "would not be appropriate" as drafted. No member objected to moving the bill out of committee under the current procedural motion.
No public comment was received for this item during the work session. Committee members assigned floor statements as the bill moves to the next stage of consideration.
