republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20132014/sb-589.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Vote by mail ballots: sample ballots."
description: "Existing law sets forth procedures for voting by mail and requires the local elections official to compare the signature on the identification envelope of a vote by mail ballot with the voter's signature that appears on his or her affidavit of registration. If the signatures compare, existing law requires the elections official to deposit the ballot in a ballot container. If the ballot is rejected because the signatures do not compare, existing law requires that the ballot not be counted and that the cause of the rejection be written on the face of the identification envelope. Existing law also requires the elections official to establish procedures to track and confirm the receipt of vote by mail ballots that are voted and to make that information available by means of online access using the county's elections division Internet Web site, or, if it has no Internet Web site, by a toll-free telephone number that may be used to confirm the date the ballot was received."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20132014"
identifier: "SB 589"
citation: "California SB 589 (20132014)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Vote by mail ballots: sample ballots."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hill"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 28
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2013-02-22"
last_action: "2013-09-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/43055b02-de8c-4a38-8123-369e8259d451"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589"
source_hash: "d3e746b8fe08b776a1ac3d5fda3f273779e4c7f2d411f04b505a4334ea7c6cd2"
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 SB 589 (20132014) — Vote by mail ballots: sample ballots.

Existing law sets forth procedures for voting by mail and requires the local elections official to compare the signature on the identification envelope of a vote by mail ballot with the voter's signature that appears on his or her affidavit of registration. If the signatures compare, existing law requires the elections official to deposit the ballot in a ballot container. If the ballot is rejected because the signatures do not compare, existing law requires that the ballot not be counted and that the cause of the rejection be written on the face of the identification envelope. Existing law also requires the elections official to establish procedures to track and confirm the receipt of vote by mail ballots that are voted and to make that information available by means of online access using the county's elections division Internet Web site, or, if it has no Internet Web site, by a toll-free telephone number that may be used to confirm the date the ballot was received.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/22/13 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58999INT)
2. **04/01/13 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58998AMD)
3. **06/04/13 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58997AMD)
4. **08/12/13 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58996AMD)
5. **09/09/13 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58994CHP)
6. **SB589** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589)
7. **08/23/13 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB589&version=20130SB58995ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **25–10** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB589 Hill Concurrence — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 589 Hill Senate Third Reading By MULLIN — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hill — primary (person)
- Mullin — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2013-02-22** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2013-02-23** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 25.
- **2013-02-25** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2013-03-11** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2013-03-22** Set for hearing April 2.
- **2013-04-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `committee-passage, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2013-04-02** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 388.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee, committee-passage`
- **2013-04-05** Set for hearing April 15.
- **2013-04-15** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 534.) (April 15). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2013-04-16** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2013-04-18** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 25. Noes 10. Page 578.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2013-04-18** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2013-05-16** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2013-06-04** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. `committee-passage, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2013-06-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee, committee-passage`
- **2013-07-03** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (July 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2013-08-05** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2013-08-08** From consent calendar.
- **2013-08-08** Ordered to third reading.
- **2013-08-12** Read third time and amended. (Page 2513.) `reading-3, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2013-08-12** Ordered to third reading.
- **2013-08-12** (Corrected August 22).
- **2013-08-19** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 2604.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2013-08-19** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2013-08-22** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 1948.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2013-08-28** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2013-09-09** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2013-09-09** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 280, Statutes of 2013.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/43055b02-de8c-4a38-8123-369e8259d451`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).