SECTIONS 19230-19245 - California Statutes

ELECTIONS CODE

SECTION 19230-19245

19230. This article shall be known and may be cited as the Voting
Modernization Bond Act of 2002 (Shelley-Hertzberg Act).

19231. The State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code), except as otherwise provided herein, is adopted for
the purpose of the issuance, sale, and repayment of, and otherwise
providing with respect to, the bonds authorized to be issued by this
article, and the provisions of that law are included in this article
as though set out in full.

19232. As used in this article, the following words have the
following meanings:
(a) "Board" means the Voting Modernization Board, established
pursuant to Section 19235.
(b) "Bond" means a state general obligation bond issued pursuant
to this article adopting the provisions of the State General
Obligation Bond Law.
(c) "Bond act" means this article authorizing the issuance of
state general obligation bonds and adopting the State General
Obligation Bond Law by reference.
(d) "Committee" means the Voting Modernization Finance Committee,
established pursuant to Section 19233.
(e) "Fund" means the Voting Modernization Fund, created pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 19234.
(f) "Voting system" means any voting machine, voting device, or
vote-tabulating device that does not utilize prescored punch card
ballots.

19233. (a) The Voting Modernization Finance Committee is hereby
established for the purpose of authorizing the issuance and sale,
pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of the bonds
authorized by this article.
(b) The committee consists of the Controller, the Director of
Finance, and the Treasurer, or their designated representatives, all
of whom shall serve thereon without compensation, and a majority of
whom shall constitute a quorum. The Treasurer shall serve as
chairperson of the committee. A majority of the committee may act for
the committee.
(c) For purposes of this article, the Voting Modernization Finance
Committee is "the committee" as that term is used in the State
General Obligation Bond Law.

19234. (a) The committee may create a debt or debts, liability or
liabilities, of the State of California, in the aggregate amount of
not more than two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000), exclusive
of refunding bonds, in the manner provided herein for the purpose of
creating a fund to assist counties in the purchase of updated voting
systems.
(b) The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this article
shall be deposited in the Voting Modernization Fund, which is hereby
established.
(c) A county is eligible to apply to the board for fund money if
it meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The county has purchased a new voting system after January 1,
1999, and is continuing to make payments on that system on the date
that this article becomes effective.
(2) The county matches fund moneys at a ratio of one dollar ($1)
of county moneys for every three dollars ($3) of fund moneys.
(3) The county has not previously requested fund money for the
purchase of a new voting system. Applications for expansion of an
existing system or components related to a previously approved
application shall be accepted.
(d) Fund moneys shall only be used to purchase systems certified
by the Secretary of State, pursuant to Division 19 (commencing with
Section 19001), and in no event shall fund moneys be used to purchase
a voting system that utilizes prescored punch card ballots.
(e) Any voting system purchased using bond funds that does not
require a voter to directly mark on the ballot must produce, at the
time the voter votes his or her ballot or at the time the polls are
closed, a paper version or representation of the voted ballot or of
all the ballots cast on a unit of the voting system. The paper
version shall not be provided to the voter but shall be retained by
elections officials for use during the 1 percent manual recount or
other recount or contest.

19234.5. The Legislature may amend subdivisions (c) and (d) of
Section 19234 and Section 19235 by a statute, passed in each house of
the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in the respective journals,
by not less than two-thirds of the membership in each house
concurring, if the statute is consistent with, and furthers the
purposes of, this article.

19235. The Voting Modernization Board is hereby established and
designated the "board" for purposes of the State General Obligation
Bond Law, and for purposes of administering the Voting Modernization
Fund. The board consists of five members, three selected by the
Governor, and two selected by the Secretary of State. The board shall
have the authority to reject any application for fund money it deems
inappropriate, excessive, or that does not comply with the intent of
this article. A county whose application is rejected shall be
allowed to submit an amended application.

19236. (a) All bonds authorized by this article, when duly sold and
delivered as provided herein, constitute valid and legally binding
general obligations of the State of California, and the full faith
and credit of the State of California is hereby pledged for the
punctual payment of both principal and interest thereof. The bonds
issued pursuant to this article shall be repaid within 10 years from
the date they are issued.
(b) There shall be collected annually, in the same manner and at
the same time as other state revenue is collected, a sum of money, in
addition to the ordinary revenues of the state, sufficient to pay
the principal of, and interest on, these bonds as provided herein.
All officers required by law to perform any duty in regard to the
collection of state revenues shall collect this additional sum.
(c) On the dates on which funds are remitted pursuant to Section
16676 of the Government Code for the payment of the then maturing
principal of, and interest on, the bonds in each fiscal year, there
shall be returned to the General Fund all of the money in the fund,
not in excess of the principal of, and interest on, any bonds then
due and payable. If the money so returned on the remittance dates is
less than the principal and interest then due and payable, the
balance remaining unpaid shall be returned to the General Fund out of
the fund as soon as it shall become available, together with
interest thereon from the dates of maturity until returned, at the
same rate of interest as borne by the bonds, compounded semiannually.
This subdivision does not grant any lien on the fund or the moneys
therein to holders of any bonds issued under this article. However,
this subdivision shall not apply in the case of any debt service that
is payable from the proceeds of any refunding bonds. For the
purposes of this subdivision, "debt service" means the principal
(whether due at maturity, by redemption, or acceleration), premium,
if any, or interest payable on any date to any series of bonds.

19237. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, there
is hereby continuously appropriated from the General Fund, for
purposes of this article, a sum of money that will equal both of the
following:
(a) That sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and the
interest on, the bonds issued and sold as provided herein, as that
principal and interest become due and payable.
(b) That sum necessary to carry out Section 19238, appropriated
without regard to fiscal years.

19238. For the purposes of this article, the Director of Finance
may, by executive order, authorize the withdrawal from the General
Fund of a sum of money not to exceed the amount of the unsold bonds
that have been authorized by the committee to be sold pursuant to
this article. Any sums withdrawn shall be deposited in the fund. All
moneys made available under this section to the board shall be
returned by the board to the General Fund, plus the interest that the
amounts would have earned in the Pooled Money Investment Account,
from the sale of bonds for the purpose of carrying out this article.

19239. The board may request the Pooled Money Investment Board to
make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account, in accordance
with Section 16312 of the Government Code, for the purposes of
carrying out this article. The amount of the request shall not exceed
the amount of unsold bonds which the committee has, by resolution,
authorized to be sold for the purpose of carrying out this article.
The board shall execute whatever documents are required by the Pooled
Money Investment Board to obtain and repay the loan. Any amounts
loaned shall be deposited in the fund to be allocated by the board in
accordance with this article.

19240. Upon request of the board, supported by a statement of its
plans and projects approved by the Governor, the committee shall
determine whether to issue any bonds authorized under this article in
order to carry out the board's plans and projects, and, if so, the
amount of bonds to be issued and sold. Successive issues of bonds may
be authorized and sold to carry out these plans and projects
progressively, and it is not necessary that all of the bonds be
issued or sold at any one time.

19241. (a) The committee may authorize the Treasurer to sell all or
any part of the bonds authorized by this article at the time or
times established by the Treasurer.
(b) Whenever the committee deems it necessary for an effective
sale of the bonds, the committee may authorize the Treasurer to sell
any issue of bonds at less than their par value, notwithstanding
Section 16754 of the Government Code. However, the discount on the
bonds shall not exceed 3 percent of the par value thereof.

19242. Out of the first money realized from the sale of bonds as
provided herein, there shall be redeposited in the General Obligation
Bond Expense Revolving Fund, established by Section 16724.5 of the
Government Code, the amount of all expenditures made for the purposes
specified in that section, and this money may be used for the same
purpose and repaid in the same manner whenever additional bond sales
are made.

19243. Any bonds issued and sold pursuant to this article may be
refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section 16780)
of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government
Code. The approval of the voters for the issuance of bonds under this
article includes approval for the issuance of bonds issued to refund
bonds originally issued or any previously issued refunding bonds.

19244. Notwithstanding any provision of the bond act, if the
Treasurer sells bonds under this article for which bond counsel has
issued an opinion to the effect that the interest on the bonds is
excludable from gross income for purposes of federal income tax,
subject to any conditions which may be designated, the Treasurer may
establish separate accounts for the investment of bond proceeds and
for the earnings on those proceeds, and may use those proceeds or
earnings to pay any rebate, penalty, or other payment required by
federal law or take any other action with respect to the investment
and use of bond proceeds required or permitted under federal law
necessary to maintain the tax-exempt status of the bonds or to obtain
any other advantage under federal law on behalf of the funds of this
state.

19245. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that, inasmuch as
the proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this article are
not "proceeds of taxes" as that term is used in Article XIII B of the
California Constitution, the disbursement of these proceeds is not
subject to the limitations imposed by Article XIII B.