---
type: "Bill"
title: "Elections: vote by mail ballots."
description: "Existing law requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for all elections proclaimed or conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Existing law requires county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 37"
citation: "California AB 37 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections: vote by mail ballots."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Berman"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 28
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2020-12-07"
last_action: "2021-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6bac5a0a-6163-4f9e-a741-4dad3bcd7b31"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37"
source_hash: "567c76febfd29afaa1aa94b955c0e2b71ffc11520bade4acb3404ca8f91575dc"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 37 (20212022) — Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Existing law requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for all elections proclaimed or conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Existing law requires county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **12/07/20 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3799INT)
2. **04/07/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3798AMD)
3. **07/01/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3797AMD)
4. **07/14/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3796AMD)
5. **08/26/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3795AMD)
6. **09/27/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3793CHP)
7. **AB37** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37)
8. **09/08/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB37&version=20210AB3794ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–1** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB37 Berman et al. By Umberg — **30–7** (pass) · upper
- AB 37 Berman Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **60–17** (pass) · lower
- AB 37 Berman Assembly Third Reading Amend By SEYARTO Set #2 Motion to Lay on the Table By REYES — **56–19** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- AB 37 Berman Assembly Third Reading — **59–16** (pass) · lower
- AB 37 Berman Assembly Third Reading Amend By GALLAGHER Set #1 Motion to Lay on the Table By REYES — **54–18** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **12–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Berman — primary (person)
- Allen — principal coauthor (person)
- Bennett — coauthor (person)
- Cervantes — author (person)
- Kalra — coauthor (person)
- Lorena Gonzalez — author (person)
- Mayes — coauthor (person)
- Mullin — coauthor (person)
- Newman — coauthor (person)
- Quirk — coauthor (person)
- Umberg — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-12-07** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2020-12-08** From printer. May be heard in committee January 7.
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Com. on ELECTIONS. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-07** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ELECTIONS. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-04-08** Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-15** Coauthors revised.
- **2021-04-15** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-19** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1460.)
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 16. Page 1592.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-05-28** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-09** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2021-07-01** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-13** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (July 12). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-14** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-08-16** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-08-26** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 26). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2021-08-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-09-02** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 7. Page 2338.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-02** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 4 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2021-09-03** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 57. Noes 18. Page 2778.)
- **2021-09-03** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 17. Page 2779.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2021-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 312, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6bac5a0a-6163-4f9e-a741-4dad3bcd7b31`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).