HB 368: "An Act relating to elections; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 368 01 "An Act relating to elections; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 SHORT TITLE. This Act may be known as the Alaska Election Transparency and 06 Security Act. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 15.10.170 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 08 (c) Immediately after voting ends, a watcher at a precinct or counting center 09 may request that the precinct election board hand count precinct ballots for a 10 candidate, initiative, referendum, or recall. The board shall allow the watcher to 11 observe the hand count. The board shall transmit the result of the hand count to the 12 director if the hand count provides different vote totals than the precinct ballot 13 counting voting machine or precinct tabulator. 14 (d) The division shall adopt a watcher handbook that includes methods for 15 documenting misconduct by election officials. The division shall publish the handbook
01 on the division's public Internet website not later than 180 days before a general 02 election. 03 (e) In this section, "counting center" includes a location at which the division 04 counts early, questioned, or absentee ballots. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 15.15.010 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 06 (b) The division may not accept funding or material assistance for the 07 administration of an election from a corporation, an individual, a foundation, an 08 organization, or government, including the federal government. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 15.15.030 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 10 (18) To allow the division to authenticate the ballots, official ballots 11 must be printed on proprietary security paper that includes a watermark or other 12 system to prevent duplication. 13 * Sec. 5. AS 15.15.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 14 (f) The division shall use a video recording device to record while ballots are 15 being cast or votes are being counted at a precinct, counting center, or polling place. 16 * Sec. 6. AS 15.15.240 is amended to read: 17 Sec. 15.15.240. Voter assistance. A qualified voter needing assistance in 18 voting may request an election official, a person, or not more than two persons of the 19 voter's choice to assist. If the election official is requested, the election official shall 20 assist the voter. If any other person is requested, the person shall state upon oath 21 before the election official that the person will not divulge the vote cast by the person 22 assisted. The election board shall record the names of a voter receiving assistance 23 and the election official, person, or persons providing the assistance. 24 * Sec. 7. AS 15.15.250 is amended to read: 25 Sec. 15.15.250. Disposition of spoiled ballot. If a voter improperly marks, 26 damages, or otherwise spoils a ballot, the voter may request and the election board 27 shall provide another ballot, with a maximum of three. The board shall record on the 28 precinct register that there was a spoiled ballot. The board shall preserve spoiled 29 ballots as prescribed in AS 15.15.470 [AND DESTROY THE SPOILED BALLOT 30 IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT EXAMINING IT]. 31 * Sec. 8. AS 15.15.350(a) is amended to read:
01 (a) The director may adopt regulations prescribing the manner in which the 02 precinct ballot count is accomplished so as to ensure accuracy in the count and to 03 expedite the process. An official ballot may not be destroyed at a precinct. The 04 election board shall account for all ballots by completing a ballot statement containing 05 (1) the number of official ballots received; (2) the number of official ballots voted; (3) 06 the number of official ballots spoiled; (4) the number of unused official ballots. The 07 board shall report all unused ballots by number and transfer the unused ballots 08 to a counting center. Before an election is certified, a candidate who ran for an 09 office that appears on an unused ballot may review the unused ballot under an 10 election official's supervision [UNUSED AND EITHER DESTROYED OR 11 RETURNED FOR DESTRUCTION TO THE ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR OR THE 12 ELECTION SUPERVISOR'S DESIGNEE]. The board shall count the number of 13 questioned ballots and compare that number to the number of questioned voters in the 14 register. Discrepancies shall be noted and the numbers included in the certificate 15 prescribed by AS 15.15.370. The election board, in hand-count precincts, shall count 16 the ballots in a manner that allows watchers to see the ballots when opened and read. 17 A person handling the ballot after it has been taken from the ballot box and before it is 18 placed in the envelope for mailing may not have a marking device in hand or remove a 19 ballot from the immediate vicinity of the polls. 20 * Sec. 9. AS 15.15.470 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 15.15.470. Preservation of election ballots, papers, and materials. The 22 director shall preserve all precinct election certificates, tallies, and registers for four 23 years after the election. All division records relating to an election, ballots, and 24 stubs, including spoiled ballots and electronic images and other electronic records 25 in a voting machine or precinct tabulator, for elections other than national elections 26 may be destroyed 22 months [30 DAYS] after the certification of the state ballot 27 counting review unless an application for recount has been filed and not completed, or 28 unless their destruction is stayed by an order of the court. All ballots for national 29 elections may be destroyed in accordance with federal law. The director shall [MAY] 30 permit the inspection of election materials upon call by the Congress, the state 31 legislature, or a court of competent jurisdiction.
01 * Sec. 10. AS 15.15 is amended by adding new sections to read: 02 Sec. 15.15.490. Duplication of ballots. An election official may not duplicate 03 a facsimile ballot, electronic ballot, or damaged ballot unless the election official 04 duplicates the ballot in front of a video recording device. 05 Sec. 15.15.495. Election audits. (a) The division shall audit and authenticate 06 ballots for each state election. The audit must begin not later than 120 days after the 07 election. 08 (b) The division shall conduct a forensic audit of all voting databases and 09 voting machine and precinct tabulator hardware and software for each state election. 10 The audit must begin not later than 120 days after the election. 11 (c) Not later than 30 days after completing an audit under (a) or (b) of this 12 section, the division shall provide to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and each 13 member of the legislature a written report, including recommendations for 14 improvement, of the audit results. Not later than 60 days after completing an audit 15 under (a) or (b) of this section, the division shall publish on the division's public 16 Internet website a written report of the election results and audit results. 17 * Sec. 11. AS 15.20.064 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 18 (e) The ballot box at an early voting location must be a transparent, secured 19 container. During the early voting period, until the ballot is reviewed for counting, an 20 early voting ballot must be in view of a video recording device, and, if the Internet is 21 available, the division shall continuously livestream video of the ballot box to the 22 division's public Internet website. The division shall, three days before removing early 23 voting ballots from a ballot box, notify all parties authorized to appoint poll watchers 24 under AS 15.10.170. 25 * Sec. 12. AS 15.20.081 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 26 (m) Until an absentee ballot received by the division is reviewed for counting, 27 the ballot must be stored in a transparent, secured container in view of a video 28 recording device, and, if the Internet is available, the division shall continuously 29 livestream video of the container to the division's public Internet website. The division 30 shall, three days before removing absentee ballots from a container, notify all parties 31 authorized to appoint poll watchers under AS 15.10.170.
01 * Sec. 13. AS 15.20.430(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) A defeated candidate or 10 qualified voters who believe there has been a 03 mistake made by an election official or by the counting board in counting the votes in 04 an election, may file an application within five days after the completion of the state 05 review to the director for a recount of the votes from any particular precinct or any 06 house district and for any particular office, proposition, or question. However, the 07 application may be filed only within three days after the completion of the state review 08 after the general election for a recount of votes cast for the offices of governor and 09 lieutenant governor. If there is a tie vote as provided in AS 15.15.460, the director 10 shall initiate the recount and give notice [TO THE INTERESTED PARTIES] as 11 provided in AS 15.20.470. 12 * Sec. 14. AS 15.20.430 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 (c) In a precinct that is not a hand-count precinct, an interested party may, 14 within five days after the completion of the state review, file an application with the 15 director requesting a hand recount of ballots that were counted by a voting machine or 16 precinct tabulator. However, the application may be filed only within three days after 17 the completion of the state review after the general election for a recount of votes cast 18 for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor. The interested party shall include 19 a $1,000 deposit for each precinct in which the party requests a hand count and may 20 observe the hand count. If the hand count results in a difference in vote totals that is 21 more than one percent of total votes cast or is enough to change the outcome of the 22 election in the precinct, the division shall refund the deposit. If the entire deposit is not 23 refunded, the director shall refund any money remaining after the cost of the recount 24 has been paid from the deposit. In this subsection, "interested party" includes a 25 candidate on a ballot, candidate's political party, or political group designated on the 26 ballot. 27 * Sec. 15. AS 15.20.910 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 28 (b) The division shall develop strict chain of custody and dual control 29 protocols for delivering to a precinct and storing a voting machine or precinct 30 tabulator. When delivering a voting machine or tabulator to a precinct, the division 31 shall follow the strict chain of custody and dual control protocols developed by the
01 division. If a machine or tabulator is delivered by a contractor, the division shall 02 require a division employee or provide for a state trooper to accompany the machine 03 or tabulator in transit. The division shall store a machine or tabulator at an election 04 precinct in compliance with strict chain of custody and dual control protocols 05 developed by the division, in a secure and locked location that is subject to video 06 surveillance and is accessible only to division employees. 07 (c) Before using a voting machine or precinct tabulator in an election in the 08 state, the division shall designate the machine or tabulator by numeric identifier and 09 designate the precinct at which the machine or tabulator will be deployed. Not later 10 than seven days before the election, the division shall test each machine or tabulator. 11 The division shall physically disconnect the machine or tabulator from the Internet and 12 disable the ability of the machine or tabulator to connect to the Internet before the test 13 date. The division shall provide 14 (1) public notice of the upcoming test; 15 (2) access for the public to observe the test; and 16 (3) livestream video of the test to the division's public Internet website. 17 (d) After testing a voting machine or precinct tabulator that will be used in an 18 election, the division shall 19 (1) store the machine or tabulator in view of a video recording device 20 that continuously livestreams video of the machine or tabulator to the division's public 21 Internet website; 22 (2) follow strict chain of custody and dual control protocols developed 23 under (b) of this section; 24 (3) physically monitor the machine or tabulator; and 25 (4) monitor the livestream of the video. 26 (e) One hundred twenty days after an election, the division may enable the 27 ability of a voting machine or precinct tabulator used in the election to connect to the 28 Internet. 29 (f) An electronic record of a voting machine or precinct tabulator used in an 30 election in the state must be saved on two storage devices. The first device must be 31 used to transmit results to the division for reporting. The second device must be stored
01 in an anti-tampering sealed envelope. After the division posts on the division's public 02 Internet website the results transmitted on the first device, the division shall open the 03 anti-tampering sealed envelope and use a computer that is not connected to the 04 Internet to compare the results on the second device with the posted results. 05 * Sec. 16. This Act takes effect June 1, 2022.