republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20172018/ab-306.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Vote by mail ballots."
description: "Existing law requires a vote by mail voter to return his or her voted vote by mail ballot (1) by mail or in person to the elections official, (2) in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place or vote center, or (3) to a vote by mail ballot dropoff location, as specified. Existing law permits a vote by mail voter who is unable to return his or her ballot to designate another person to return the ballot. Existing law requires that the identification envelope of a vote by mail ballot contain, among other things, the name of the person authorized to return it, the relationship of that person to the voter, and that person's signature. Existing law requires that all vote by mail ballots be received before the close of the polls on election day and prohibits a ballot from being counted if not received before that time."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 306"
citation: "California AB 306 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Vote by mail ballots."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gonzalez Fletcher"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2017-02-06"
last_action: "2018-08-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4fefef91-9598-45ad-adf0-3397243cf273"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306"
source_hash: "7229e59a80ead7984e9cfa44d60ceebc64f76c355a636c93253faf79e9122061"
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 306 (20172018) — Vote by mail ballots.

Existing law requires a vote by mail voter to return his or her voted vote by mail ballot (1) by mail or in person to the elections official, (2) in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place or vote center, or (3) to a vote by mail ballot dropoff location, as specified. Existing law permits a vote by mail voter who is unable to return his or her ballot to designate another person to return the ballot. Existing law requires that the identification envelope of a vote by mail ballot contain, among other things, the name of the person authorized to return it, the relationship of that person to the voter, and that person's signature. Existing law requires that all vote by mail ballots be received before the close of the polls on election day and prohibits a ballot from being counted if not received before that time.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/06/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30699INT)
2. **01/03/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30697AMD)
3. **01/11/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30696AMD)
4. **03/23/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30698AMD)
5. **05/16/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30695AMD)
6. **06/20/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30694AMD)
7. **08/27/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30692CHP)
8. **AB306** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306)
9. **08/10/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB306&version=20170AB30693ENR)

## Votes

- AB 306 GONZALEZ FLETCHER Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **54–24** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB306 Gonzalez Fletcher By Hertzberg — **26–11** (pass) · upper
- Be re-referred to the Committee on [Elections and Redistricting] — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 306 GONZALEZ FLETCHER Assembly Third Reading — **59–3** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- AB 306 GONZALEZ FLETCHER Assembly Third Reading Amend By HARPER Set #1 Motion to Lay on the Table By CALDERON — **48–25** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Gonzalez Fletcher — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-06** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-07** From printer. May be heard in committee March 9.
- **2017-03-23** Referred to Com. on INS. `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-23** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on INS. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-03-27** Re-referred to Com. on INS. `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-03** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on INS. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-01-03** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. `referral-committee`
- **2018-01-04** From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on E. & R. Re-referred. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (January 4). Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-01-10** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (January 10). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2018-01-11** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2018-01-12** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-01-18** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 3. Page 3798.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-01-18** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2018-03-15** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2018-05-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (May 15). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2018-05-16** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2018-06-20** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2018-06-21** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-06** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 26. Noes 11. Page 5169.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-07** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 9 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2018-08-09** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 54. Noes 24. Page 6204.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2018-08-14** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2018-08-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-08-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 203, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4fefef91-9598-45ad-adf0-3397243cf273`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).