republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-796.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program.	Existing federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requires a state to, among other things, establish procedures to register a person to vote for federal office by an application made simultaneously with a driver's license application. Existing state law requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters. Existing state law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to the person's eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver's license or identification card. Existing state law provides that this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, and the Secretary of State is required to register the person to vote, unless the person affirmatively declines to register to vote or the person is ineligible to vote, or other specified conditions exist.	us/states/ca	California Legislature	20212022	AB 796	California AB 796 (20212022)	bill	Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program.	enacted	Berman	7	28	10	2021-02-16	2021-09-27	openstates	ocd-bill/c764ce09-9517-47be-87b2-71b36eebcb88	http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB796	e901aba280d56f1ca2aa7865adb6836ffad82a1ea609f008e350a6f3a5a82d6f	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ca

California AB 796 (20212022) — Voter registration: California New Motor Voter Program.

Existing federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requires a state to, among other things, establish procedures to register a person to vote for federal office by an application made simultaneously with a driver's license application. Existing state law requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters. Existing state law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to the person's eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver's license or identification card. Existing state law provides that this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, and the Secretary of State is required to register the person to vote, unless the person affirmatively declines to register to vote or the person is ineligible to vote, or other specified conditions exist.

Version chain

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

1. 02/16/21 - Introduced (filed) — source
2. 04/06/21 - Amended Assembly (committee substitute) — source
3. 06/30/21 - Amended Senate (committee substitute) — source
4. 08/26/21 - Amended Senate (committee substitute) — source
5. 09/27/21 - Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
6. AB796 (committee substitute) — source
7. 09/07/21 - Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• 3rd Reading AB796 Berman et al. By Newman — 30–9 (pass) · upper
• Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 12–4 (pass) · upper
• Do pass. — 12–4 (pass) · lower
• Do pass as amended — 5–2 (pass) · upper
• AB 796 Berman Concurrence in Senate Amendments — 59–18 (pass) · lower
• Placed on suspense file — 7–0 (pass) · upper
• Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Transportation] — 5–1 (pass) · lower
• Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 10–4 (pass) · lower
• Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Transportation] — 4–1 (pass) · upper
• AB 796 Berman Assembly Third Reading — 58–18 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Berman — primary (person)
• Lorena Gonzalez — author (person)
• Mullin — coauthor (person)
• Newman — coauthor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2021-02-16 Read first time. To print. reading-1
• 2021-02-17 From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.
• 2021-02-25 Referred to Coms. on ELECTIONS and TRANS. referral-committee
• 2021-04-06 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
• 2021-04-07 Re-referred to Com. on ELECTIONS. referral-committee
• 2021-04-15 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
• 2021-04-27 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 4.) (April 26). 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 58. Noes 18. Page 1647.) 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 Coms. on E. & C.A. and TRANS. referral-committee
• 2021-06-29 From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 1692.) (June 28). amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee
• 2021-06-30 Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee
• 2021-07-13 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (July 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, 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
• 2021-09-01 Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 9. Page 2300.). passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2021-09-01 In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 3 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
• 2021-09-02 Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 57. Noes 14. Page 2703.)
• 2021-09-02 Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 59. Noes 18. Page 2736.). 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 314, Statutes of 2021. became-law

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/c764ce09-9517-47be-87b2-71b36eebcb88. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).