Beatie

Introduction

We treat herein a question of first impression under California law: May an absentee voter after marking his ballot, placing and sealing it in the identification envelope, filling out and signing the envelope, then lawfully hand the envelope to a third party for mailing to the elections official from whence it came? As we shall explain, we conclude the procedure described above complies with the provisions of Elections Code section 1013 which governs the return of absentee ballots. Nevertheless, because of the possibility of fraud or illegal activity by third persons in soliciting absentee ballots, we suggest the Legislature examine the general question of absentee ballot solicitation to see if remedial legislation is called for.

The Evidence

On April 8, 1980, a general election was held in the City of Sanger to elect three members to the city council. Appellant was a candidate and failed to win reelection. Respondents each won a seat on the council and received the following votes: Jose Marquez, 1,381; Tanis Ybarra, Jr., 1,338; and Maria Davila, 1,315. The appellant received 1,070 votes. The margins of victory of all three respondents over appellant…