republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/ab-626.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Voting: returning vote by mail ballots in person."
description: "Existing law authorizes any county to conduct an election as an all-mailed ballot election if certain requirements are met, including that the county establishes vote centers throughout the county for voters to, among other things, vote and return the voter's vote by mail ballot. Under existing law, a person who votes a vote by mail ballot is required to place the ballot in the identification envelope provided to the voter, sign the envelope, and return the ballot by mail or in person."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 626"
citation: "California AB 626 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Voting", "returning vote by mail ballots in person"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pellerin"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 21
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-02-09"
last_action: "2023-10-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ebc9ce15-cf10-4548-9d38-29753eac3fdf"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626"
source_hash: "d64b44b97b607845aa387d47cd0f908172d220f6fd2494161d201e2a52d78f59"
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 626 (20232024) — Voting: returning vote by mail ballots in person.

Existing law authorizes any county to conduct an election as an all-mailed ballot election if certain requirements are met, including that the county establishes vote centers throughout the county for voters to, among other things, vote and return the voter's vote by mail ballot. Under existing law, a person who votes a vote by mail ballot is required to place the ballot in the identification envelope provided to the voter, sign the envelope, and return the ballot by mail or in person.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/09/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626&version=20230AB62699INT)
2. **03/20/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626&version=20230AB62698AMD)
3. **10/10/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626&version=20230AB62696CHP)
4. **AB626** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626)
5. **09/11/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB626&version=20230AB62697ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB626 Pellerin By Laird — **36–4** (pass) · upper
- AB 626 Pellerin Assembly Third Reading — **69–2** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **12–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Pellerin — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-02-09** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** From printer. May be heard in committee March 12.
- **2023-02-17** Referred to Com. on ELECTIONS. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (March 15). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-20** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-03-21** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-19** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-18** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (May 18). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-18** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 69. Noes 2. Page 2062.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-06-01** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2023-06-14** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (June 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-07-03** In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (September 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-07** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 36. Noes 4. Page 2454.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-07** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2023-09-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2023-10-10** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-10** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 661, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ebc9ce15-cf10-4548-9d38-29753eac3fdf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).