Legislature(2019 - 2020)GRUENBERG 120
04/18/2019 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB110 | |
| HB115 | |
| HB20 | |
| HB115 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 110 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 115 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 115-ABSENTEE VOTING
3:29:48 PM
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the next order of
business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 115, "An Act relating to
absentee voting; and providing for an effective date."
3:30:23 PM
MICHAEL MASON, Staff, Representative Chris Tuck, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Tuck, prime sponsor,
informed the committee that earlier that day he had presented HB
115 to the Alaska Commission on Aging, and following that
presentation, the commission informed him that it would endorse
the bill, which would put in place a permanent absentee voting
system in Alaska.
3:31:28 PM
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opened public testimony on HB 115.
3:31:36 PM
EVAN ANDERSON, Civic Engagement Manager, Alaska Center Education
Fund (ACEF), stated that ACEF believes democracy in Alaska is
strongest when there is full participation across the
electorate. He said permanent absentee voting would be "a major
win" for students, "people of varying abilities," and the
elderly. He surmised that the chances someone will vote again
are higher if his/her [absentee] ballot is delivered
automatically. He mentioned there are 11 other states that do
this, and he remarked that Alaskans "stand on the shoulders" of
its civil rights heroes, such as Elizabeth Peratrovich. He
concluded by stating his support for HB 115.
3:33:46 PM
VERI DI SUVERO, Executive Director, Alaska Public Interest
Research Group (AKPIRG), related that AKPIRG protects consumers
and ensures the best possible governance in Alaska. She said
AKPIRG supports permanent absentee voting, "because every
American has the fundamental right to vote and have that vote
counted." She talked about the ability to do most things via
computer or smart phone; therefore, she reasoned that there is
"no reason that signing up to receive a ballot shouldn't be easy
and accurate and accessible." She opined that permanent
absentee voting would ensure that Alaska's electorate receives
the best process for voting possible. She said there are eight
states, as well as Washington, D.C., that maintain a permanent
absentee ballot list. She expressed support of HB 115.
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS, after ascertaining that there was no
one else who wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB
115.
3:35:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY expressed appreciation for the information
from Barbara Jones, Municipal Clerk, Municipality of Anchorage,
about ensuring that a voter does not vote absentee and then show
up at the polls to vote again. She questioned whether this
[method] was in place in other parts of the state.
3:36:59 PM
GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, stated that since Anchorage [uses] "an all
by-mail system," its security measures are different. She said,
"The State of Alaska would still need to be producing precinct
registers, and those precinct registers would be marked ...
'applied for by-mail ballot' or 'applied for absentee ballot'."
She added, "If someone was to show up and vote at the polls, and
insist on voting, we would require them to vote a question
ballot; that would be the division's policy to ensure that if
they already voted a by-mail ballot and sent it in, ... there
would not be duplicate voting going on."
3:38:08 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked for clarification as to how that would
work.
MS. FENUMIAI explained that in order to ensure duplicate voting
doesn't occur, notation needs to be made in the precinct
register showing when people have voted by mail or voted early.
With that notation made, the polling place worker would then
tell the voter who comes to the precinct voting location that
he/she must use a question ballot. All ballots that come back
to the regional offices are logged, reviewed, and entered into
the voter registration system; therefore, there is a method to
determine whether a by-mail ballot was received before the
question ballot.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked how the division knows a mailed ballot
is from a particular voter.
MS. FENUMIAI answered that three identifying items must be on
the back of the by-mail envelope in order for the by-mail ballot
to be counted: a witness, a voter "indentifier," and the
voter's signature.
3:41:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY said it was interesting to learn that the
State of Colorado received 60 percent return rates in [by-mail]
voting. She observed that information she read showed that
Alaska's rate was 18 percent.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL said while he personally does not want a
future where voting by mail is the only option, he supports
getting more people to vote.
3:42:14 PM
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS opined that HB 115 is "great," as well
as "simple" and "straightforward." He explained that he would
put aside HB 115 and bring it back at the end of the meeting
when a quorum was present to vote on moving HB 115 out of
committee.
HB 115-ABSENTEE VOTING
4:16:08 PM
CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that the final order of
business would be a return to HOUSE BILL NO. 115, "An Act
relating to absentee voting; and providing for an effective
date."
4:16:11 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL moved to report HB 115 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes.
There being no objection, HB 115 was reported from the House
State Affairs Standing Committee.