Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3498 by Aliseda (Relating to the penalty for illegal voting.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Elections Code as it relates to illegal voting. Under the provisions of the bill, illegal voting would be second degree felony and attempting to vote illegally would be a state jail felony. At present illegal voting is a third degree felony and attempting to vote illegally is a Class A Misdemeanor.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2011 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.
Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jails or prison. When an offense is changed from a misdemeanor to a felony, there is a transfer of the burden of confinement of convicted offenders from the counties to the State. However, in the case of this bill, it is assumed that the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.