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Committee advances bill to criminalize contingent payments tied to voting or registering
Summary
The Assembly Elections Committee approved SB 398 on July 2, a bill that would make it a crime to offer money or other valuable consideration contingent on whether a person registers or votes, including lottery-based inducements.
The Assembly Elections Committee on July 2 approved SB 398, which would make it a crime for a person to knowingly or willfully pay or offer to pay money or other valuable consideration with the intent to induce another person to register or vote when the payment is contingent on whether the person voted or registered.
Sponsor remarks and witness testimony framed the bill as closing a gap in existing law. Senator Tom Umberg described recent practices, including paid lotteries and payments targeted at registered voters, as attempts to ‘‘buy’’ registration or turnout and said SB 398 would close that loophole. "One of the cornerstones of our democracy is that no one should be allowed to buy votes," said Trent Lang of the California Clean Money Campaign, who testified in support.
Lang and other supporters detailed examples cited in prior hearings and public debates where groups offered lotteries or small payments that were conditioned on registration or further action by recipients; the committee accepted amendments to the bill that explicitly carve out certain narrowly defined exceptions such as government-provided transportation and paid leave for employees.
No primary opposition witnesses appeared during the scheduled opposition testimony, though a few commenters registered opposition on the record. Committee members who spoke praised the bill's intent but also noted the need to refine the language to avoid unintended consequences; the author accepted committee amendments.
The committee voted to pass SB 398 as amended and re‑referred it to the Committee on Public Safety. The committee analysis and committee discussion identified exclusions and clarifications in the amended language for transportation and employer-paid time off to avoid criminalizing ordinary logistical assistance to voters.
SB 398 will move next to the Committee on Public Safety. Supporters urged the committee to act to prevent pay-for-vote schemes that use lotteries or contingent payments; the committee's action advances that approach with statutory penalties as amended.
