republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/ab-216.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Voters: residency confirmation."
description: "Existing law requires the county elections official to conduct a preelection residence confirmation procedure by mailing a specified nonforwardable postcard to each registered voter of the county by the 90th day immediately prior to the direct primary election. In lieu of mailing a residency confirmation postcard, existing law permits the county elections official to conduct the residency confirmation procedure by alternative methods, including by contracting with the United States Postal Service or its licensees to obtain use of postal service change-of-address data. Existing law requires the county elections official, based on the change-of-address information received in conducting the residency confirmation, or the change-of-address information provided directly by the voter, to correct or cancel, among other things, the voter's registration."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "AB 216"
citation: "California AB 216 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Voters: residency confirmation."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Swanson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 31
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2011-01-31"
last_action: "2012-09-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f3e69a71-c156-450d-a808-3f5551c56767"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216"
source_hash: "9ca7159c434d150787ea67bd9fb1f1f397bf04455b59c3bf5feed618d2558c49"
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 216 (20112012) — Voters: residency confirmation.

Existing law requires the county elections official to conduct a preelection residence confirmation procedure by mailing a specified nonforwardable postcard to each registered voter of the county by the 90th day immediately prior to the direct primary election. In lieu of mailing a residency confirmation postcard, existing law permits the county elections official to conduct the residency confirmation procedure by alternative methods, including by contracting with the United States Postal Service or its licensees to obtain use of postal service change-of-address data. Existing law requires the county elections official, based on the change-of-address information received in conducting the residency confirmation, or the change-of-address information provided directly by the voter, to correct or cancel, among other things, the voter's registration.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/31/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216&version=20110AB21699INT)
2. **07/05/12 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216&version=20110AB21698AMD)
3. **08/15/12 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216&version=20110AB21697AMD)
4. **09/24/12 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216&version=20110AB21695CHP)
5. **AB216** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216)
6. **09/11/12 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120AB216&version=20110AB21696ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **3–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations Recommend Consent. — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on Appropriations Suspense file. — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- amendments be concurred in. — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- AB 216 SWANSON Assembly Third Reading — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 216 SWANSON Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **51–28** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB216 Swanson By Correa — **25–12** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **17–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Swanson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-01-31** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2011-02-01** From printer. May be heard in committee March 3.
- **2011-02-10** Referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-16** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (March 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-06** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2011-05-27** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (May 27). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-05-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 1643.) `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-05-31** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2011-06-08** Referred to Com. on ED. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: to consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-07-11** In committee: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2011-08-25** In committee: Held under submission.
- **2012-07-05** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Ayes 23. Noes 10. Page 4283.)
- **2012-07-05** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, reading-1, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2012-07-06** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2012-07-06** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2012-07-06** Re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2012-07-06** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 3. Noes 2.) (July 6). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-08-06** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-08-15** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-3, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2012-08-16** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-08-21** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 25. Noes 12. Page 4635.). `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-08-22** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 24 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2012-08-24** Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2012-08-28** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Ayes 51. Noes 27. Page 6468.)
- **2012-08-29** From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 29). `committee-passage`
- **2012-08-30** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 51. Noes 28. Page 6612.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2012-09-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12:15 p.m.
- **2012-09-24** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2012-09-24** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 495, Statutes of 2012.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f3e69a71-c156-450d-a808-3f5551c56767`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).