Bill Text: CA SB259 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 259

Bill Title: Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2026-08-20 - Ordered to third reading. [SB259 Detail]

Download: California-2025-SB259-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly August 20, 2026

Amended IN Assembly September 09, 2025

Amended IN Assembly September 05, 2025

Amended IN Assembly July 10, 2025

Amended IN Assembly June 19, 2025

Amended IN Assembly June 13, 2025

Amended IN Senate April 24, 2025

Amended IN Senate April 08, 2025

Amended IN Senate March 24, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 259

Introduced by Senator Wahab
~~(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Lowenthal)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Connolly, Garcia, Haney, and Kalra)~~

February 03, 2025

~~An act to add Chapter 40 (commencing with Section 22949.82) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to consumer protection.~~ An act to amend Section 18577 of the Elections Code, relating to elections, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 259, as amended, Wahab. ~~Fair Online Pricing Act.~~ Elections: vote by mail ballots.

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any person having charge of a completed vote by mail ballot to interfere with a ballot’s return to the local elections official.
This bill would additionally make it a misdemeanor for any person having charge of a vote by mail ballot to interfere, as defined, with a ballot’s delivery to a voter. The bill would make it a felony for a person with authority to direct one or more persons subject to their supervision or authority to interfere with a ballot’s return to the local elections official or delivery to a voter. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to request that a business delete personal information about the consumer that the business has collected from the consumer and to direct a business that sells or shares personal information about the consumer to third parties not to sell or share the consumer’s personal information.
This bill, the Fair Online Pricing Act, would, subject to specified exceptions, prohibit a price offered to a consumer through the consumer’s online device, as defined, from being generated in whole, or in part, based on any of certain input data, including the presence or absence of any software on the online device.

Vote: ~~MAJORITY~~2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NOYES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 18577 of the Elections Code is amended to read:

18577.

(a) Any person having charge of a completed vote by mail ballot who willfully interferes or causes interference with its return to the local elections official having jurisdiction over the election is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(b) Any person having charge of a vote by mail ballot who willfully interferes or causes interference with its delivery to a voter is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(c) Any person with authority who directs one or more other persons subject to their supervision or authority to engage in the conduct prohibited by subdivision (a) or (b) is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for two, three, or four years.
(d) For purposes of this section, “interference” includes, but is not limited to, providing unauthorized access to, breaking the chain of custody for, or tampering with a vote by mail ballot, or, having been designated to return a ballot under Section 3017, failing to return that ballot to the applicable elections official.

SEC. 2.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

SEC. 3.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order for the important election security protections in this act to apply to the November 3, 2026, statewide general election, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.

SECTION 1.
~~This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Fair Online Pricing Act.~~
SEC. 2.Chapter 40 (commencing with Section 22949.82) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
40.Device-Based Pricing
22949.82.
(a)“Coupon” means any method by which a consumer receives a discount on the purchase of any item that is funded, produced, sponsored, promoted, or furnished, either directly or indirectly, by a business, including, but not limited to, a paper coupon, a digital coupon, or an instant redeemable coupon.
~~(b)“Discount” means any reduction from the regular or advertised price offered to consumers on a temporary or conditional basis.~~
(c)“Hardware state” means a condition or mode of existence of a system, component, or simulation, including, but not limited to, battery life, number of wireless connections detected, hardware performance characteristics, and age of the device, data that is erased when an online device is restarted or powered down, and data that is retained when an online device is restarted or powered down.
(d)“Online device” means a physical object that has built-in resources that allow it to communicate through the internet or a short-range wireless technology and react to interface conditions, including, but not limited to, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet, a smartphone, or other smart hardware.
22949.82.1.
~~(a)A price offered to a consumer through the consumer’s online device shall not be generated in whole, or in part, based on any of the following input data:~~
~~(1)(A)The hardware or hardware state of the online device.~~
~~(B)This paragraph shall not prohibit the generation of a price offered to a consumer based on the hardware or hardware state of the online device for the following purposes:~~
~~(i)Repairs or maintenance of the online device.~~
~~(ii)Calculating a trade-in value of the online device.~~
~~(2)The presence or absence of any software on the online device.~~
~~(3)(A)Geolocation data of the online device, when used to set a price based on inferences about the consumer made from this data.~~
(B)Subparagraph (A) shall not prohibit the use of geolocation data of the online device and the consumer’s location to generate a price for reasons not specified in subparagraph (A), including, but not limited to, either of the following:
~~(i)To determine pricing based on the real-time demand for the product or service in the consumer’s vicinity, if the product or service is provided immediately upon request.~~
(ii)To provide accurate pricing information based on price variances at different physical locations, due to legitimate cost differentials associated with providing a good or service to different consumers or state or local government taxes, duties, or other fees imposed by state or local government on the transaction.
(b)Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any coupon, discount, or other bona fide rebate, sale, or promotion that is separate from the price, that reduces the price of goods or services, that is issued or offered to the general public on the same terms, and does not incorporate input data as specified in subdivision (a).
22949.82.2.
The duties and obligations imposed by this chapter are cumulative with any other duties or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve any party from any duties or obligations imposed under other law, including, but not limited to, duties or obligations related to the accurate advertising, displaying, or offering of prices.
SEC. 3.
The Legislature finds and declares that cellular broadcast technology is a critical service, especially during a state of emergency, and that this technology is inherently privacy preserving as it does not use personal data, and as a unilateral one-to-many system that does not rely on the geolocation of an individual consumer’s device, is not encompassed by the broadly understood term “geolocation” for purposes of this act.