Elections.

Senator Cervantes and Assembly Member Pellerin frame a comprehensive election-change package that ties federal-law actions to California’s oversight framework while clarifying election-official duties and security practices. The core changes add new notification requirements for state and local agencies when a court action involving elections asserts a federal claim, mandating written notice to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General within three court days, and requiring a draft of any proposed settlement to be shared with those offices at least 14 court days before finalizing an agreement. The measure also creates a confidentiality shield for records exchanged under these provisions and extends federal-law considerations to cover a broader set of actors and locations.

The bill treats certain elections duties as ministerial and nondiscretionary, reinforcing the sequence and timing of official actions. It specifies that the completion of vote counts involves adding write-in results and paper ballots certified by precinct boards, with a public post at the counting site. It further requires elections officials to prepare and transmit certified results to the governing bodies within a defined window, and to post those results on an official website in a downloadable format for a minimum period. When a certified official fails to produce the mandated statement, the bill authorizes the Secretary of State to alert the appropriate district attorney or the Attorney General and to assist the county official in fulfilling duties consistent with applicable government-code provisions.

In terms of voting-system governance, the bill shifts the Secretary of State’s standards framework to align with the minimum requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act and to incorporate best practices in election technology, while also encouraging nonproprietary, auditable systems. It requires vendors or jurisdictions to deposit exact copies of approved voting-system source code and related build and configuration instructions into an escrow facility within a defined timeframe following certification, and it directs the Secretary of State to adopt regulations detailing components, escrow specifications, access, and procedures for ensuring verifiable equivalence to certified systems. The measure extends to ballot-marking systems, provides for regulatory oversight, and empowers the secretary to access escrow materials for investigations, compliance, or validation, including the ability to pursue injunctive relief in a designated venue. It also broadens existing reporting duties to include any defect, fault, or failure of remote-accessible voting systems and ballot-marking systems, with defined terms for defect, failure, and fault.

The bill’s findings frame confidentiality as a deliberate limitation on public access to certain records exchanged during federal-law-related actions, asserting that protecting privileged communications and related materials is necessary. Authors indicate that the provisions would be applied statewide, including charter jurisdictions, and the act is designed to be urgent so as to affect the upcoming statewide election. The administration anticipates that, where applicable, costs mandated by the state would be addressed through established reimbursement procedures, while other costs may be treated as nonreimbursable if allowed by constitutional provisions. In the broader context, the package situates itself within ongoing concerns about election integrity, transparency, and the secure, auditable use of voting technologies, and it emphasizes immediate applicability to safeguard a forthcoming election timetable.