---
type: "Bill"
title: "Vote by mail ballots: processing."
description: "Existing law requires elections officials to begin mailing ballots to every registered voter no later than 29 days before an election. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes and, if the jurisdiction has the necessary computer capability, vote by mail ballots 29 days before an election."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "AB 16"
citation: "California AB 16 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Votebymailballots", "processing"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alanis"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-12-02"
last_action: "2025-10-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/08203b64-bcb0-4d44-973d-7c36f684d50e"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16"
source_hash: "f1cc7a59073105a5833b4cf372ae07acd37293e5d50105495c80df9374ac4b3e"
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 16 (20252026) — Vote by mail ballots: processing.

Existing law requires elections officials to begin mailing ballots to every registered voter no later than 29 days before an election. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes and, if the jurisdiction has the necessary computer capability, vote by mail ballots 29 days before an election.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/02/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16&version=20250AB1699INT)
2. **04/21/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16&version=20250AB1698AMD)
3. **09/04/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16&version=20250AB1697AMD)
4. **10/01/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16&version=20250AB1695CHP)
5. **AB16** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16)
6. **09/16/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB16&version=20250AB1696ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB16 Alanis By Alvarado-Gil — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 16 Alanis Assembly Third Reading — **75–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 16 Alanis Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **74–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alanis — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-12-02** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2024-12-03** From printer. May be heard in committee January 2.
- **2025-02-03** Referred to Com. on ELECTIONS. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-10** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 9). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2025-04-21** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-04-22** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-24** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2025-04-24** Ordered to second reading.
- **2025-04-28** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-05-05** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 1428.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-05-06** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2025-05-14** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-09** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2025-07-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-07-02** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-04** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-08** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2922.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-12** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2025-09-13** Joint Rules 61(a)(14) and 51(a)(4) suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 20. Page 3413.)
- **2025-09-13** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 3495.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-24** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2025-10-01** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-01** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 140, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/08203b64-bcb0-4d44-973d-7c36f684d50e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).