Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/04/2000 09:13 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 40
Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State
of Alaska providing that the governor, United States
senators, United States representative, and electors
of the President and Vice-President of the United
States be elected by a majority vote.
This was the second hearing for this bill in the Senate
Finance Committee.
Co-Chair Torgerson drew the Committee's attention to a
legal opinion prepared by the Division of Legal and
Research Services as requested by Senator Adams regarding
whether this resolution was considered a constitutional
amendment or a revision. [Copy on File.] Co-Chair
Torgerson noted that the opinion stated in part, ".the
three resolutions considered by the court under this test
in the Bess vs. Ulmer case, SJR 40 appears closer in terms
of the quantity and quality of change proposed to the two
resolutions held to be amendments (marriage and
reapportionment) than the resolution held to be a revision
(rights of prisoners)." Co-Chair Torgerson qualified that
the opinion also stated that the division was unsure how
the court would actually rule if the matter were litigated.
SENATOR ROBIN TAYLOR responded to three questions posed in
the previous hearing from a representative from the
Department of Law. The first question related to the
definition of "majority" where the recommendation was made
to include a definition in the constitution itself. Senator
Taylor stated that he had no objection to Senator Adams's
proposed amendment that would add that definition.
Senator Taylor responded to the Department of Law's second
inquiry about the Electoral College and its membership. He
stated that so long as the Electoral College was still in
existence, he felt that the provisions providing for this
system should be left in the legislation. His reason was
that there could be as many as nine presidential candidates
running for US President within the State Of Alaska and
without a majority requirement, the subsequent delegates to
the Electoral College would represent only a small minority
of voters.
Senator Taylor then addressed the question of run-off
elections saying he did not wish to make a decision on the
procedures of such elections at this time.
Senator Taylor spoke to another proposed amendment that
changes "procedures" to the singular "procedure". He did
not think this change was necessary, saying that the
corresponding statute is sufficient and that the Division
of Elections would establish procedure.
Amendment #1: This amendment inserts the following language
on page 1, line 16, of the resolution, following,
"elected." "The winning candidate must be the first choice
of at least 50 percent plus one of the votes cast for the
office."
Senator Adams moved for adoption and explained that the
amendment places the specific definition of majority into
the constitution.
AT EASE 9:23 AM / 9:25
Co-Chair Parnell moved to amend the amendment to delete
"first" from the inserted language. The sentence then
reads, "The winning candidate must be the choice of at
least 50 percent plus one of the votes cast for the
office."
There was no objection and the amendment was AMENDED.
Without objection, the amended amendment was ADOPTED.
Amendment #2: This amendment deletes, "and elector of
President and Vice-President of the United States," from
page 1, lines 14 and 15 of the resolution. The title then
reads, "Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the
State Of Alaska providing that the governor, United States
senators, and United States representative, be elected by a
majority vote."
This amendment also deletes, "Procedures [THE PROCEDURE]
for arriving at a majority vote, and for" and inserts, "The
procedure for" on page 1 line 16 through page 2 line 1 of
the resolution. The sentence then reads, "The procedure for
determining election contests, with right of appeal to the
courts, shall be prescribed by law."
Co-Chair Parnell moved for adoption on behalf of Co-Chair
Torgerson, the sponsor.
Co-Chair Torgerson explained this is a two-part amendment
that deletes the elections of the president and the vice-
president from the majority requirement and also removes
the procedures for arriving at the majority vote from the
constitution. He asked the resolution sponsor's opinion on
this amendment.
Senator Taylor repeated his statement about the multiple
candidates for president and vice-president on Alaska's
recent ballots. Until the country changes and removes the
Electoral College system of choosing presidents and vice-
presidents, he still wanted the majority represented.
Co-Chair Torgerson said he was unsure the voters would
understand the relationship between the votes cast for
these candidates and the representation on the Electoral
College.
Senator Leman asked how other states chose electors for
president and vice-president. He commented that there have
been some strong third-party candidates and the electorates
resulting from these races don't represent a majority of
the votes cast.
Senator Taylor thought that there were several different
methods of determining delegates amongst the states.
CHIP WAGONER testified that other states were currently
debating the same issue of majority votes and that Vermont
is one state that is including electorates in the majority
requirement.
Mr. Wagoner described the electoral process and how the
political parties select the delegates. He stated that
under the US Constitution the states have the authority to
structure the majority requirements as proposed in this
resolution. He stated that elections would not be delayed
because of the majority requirements because the voters
don't select the electorates.
Co-Chair Torgerson asked if under current practice, the
political parties hold an election to chose its delegates.
Mr. Wagoner affirmed told about how the Republican Party
chooses the electorates. He listed several Republicans who
have served as delegates and were chosen based on their
contribution to the party. He noted that in Alaska, the
party of the presidential candidate who receives the most
votes chooses all the electorates for the next presidential
election.
Co-Chair Torgerson asked if these elections were public.
Mr. Wagoner explained how the elections occur during the
Republican Party Convention. He was unsure how the
Democratic Party held its elections, noting that the last
time the delegates were chosen by the Democrats was in
1960, after John F. Kennedy received the majority of the
votes cast in Alaska.
Co-Chair Torgerson did not understand the problem that
needed to be addressed with an amendment to the state
constitution.
Mr. Wagoner reiterated that there were multiple
presidential candidates in the past several elections and
that none of these candidates received a majority of the
votes. He asserted that "majority rule is a sacred
principal of democracy" as stated by Thomas Jefferson. With
the multitude of parties entering the presidential race,
Mr. Wagoner stressed, this constitutional amendment ensures
that the majority rules.
Senator Adams asked the witness for his legal opinion on
the revision versus amendment question. He did not want to
rule out the possibility that the court would reach the
conclusion that this resolution is a revision and therefore
not eligible to be placed before the voters.
Senator Adams spoke of the short time period between
Election Day and the day the governor takes office,
questioning whether there would be time to conduct a runoff
election.
Mr. Wagoner spoke to the legal opinion request, agreeing
that the resolution would be an amendment to the
constitution. He disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling.
Senator Adams commented that he disagreed with the
opinions.
GAIL FENUMANI, Division of Elections, Office of the
Governor asked if the amendment was proposed for both the
primary and the general election or just the general
election.
Ms. Fenumani pointed out that there would be a timing
problem with holding a runoff election. She detailed the
process of certifying an election and the amount of time
required.
Ms. Fenumani then addressed the cost of holding a runoff
election noting that the cost of a runoff election would be
approximately $750,000 based on the expenditures for the
September 14, 1999 special election.
Ms. Fenumani asked if a presidential candidate did not win
in Alaska by a 50 percent plus one vote majority, would a
runoff election between the top two candidates be required.
Ms. Fenumani commented that the presidential elections are
mostly decided by the time the polls close in this state.
Senator Phillips remarked that if this constitutional
election passes then the legislature could address those
questions in the next session. He stressed these details
could not be placed in the amendment. He used the 1976
constitutional amendment to establish the Alaska Permanent
Fund as an example of how the details of the board of
directors, dividends, etc. were not addressed until after
the election.
Ms. Fenumani responded that she just wanted to state these
issues on the record. She stressed that the division had
not taken a position in support or in opposition of the
resolution.
Co-Chair Torgerson asked if the witness interpreted there
would be a need for a runoff election for the president and
vice-president offices. He thought that was a "far
stretch".
Senator P. Kelly disagreed, saying that the way the
amendment was written, the matter was somewhat confusing.
Ms. Fenumani noted that if the language is intended for the
method of how electorates are chosen within party, the
question of runoff elections for president and vice-
president was answered.
KATHLEEN STRASBAUGH, Assistant Attorney General,
Governmental Affairs Section, Civil Division, Department of
Law, added that this constitutional amendment may apply to
primary as well as general elections.
Ms. Strasbaugh had concerns with mentioning the Electoral
College in the state constitution when elsewhere, only the
offices of president and vice-president are specifically
referred to. She noted that the legislature currently
dictates how the electorates are selected in AS 15.30. She
saw no reason to change this procedure. She did however,
understand the principles that the resolution's sponsor was
trying to accomplish would limit the legislature's ability
regarding runoff elections. She warned that conducting a
runoff election for the office of governor would be
difficult because of another state constitutional provision
that provides when elected officials takes office. She said
the problem continues because US Congress has determined,
in federal statutes, that the electorates must be seated by
a specific deadline as well. She ascertained that these
were fairly serious matters that could not be avoided.
Co-Chair Parnell commented on the term of office of the
governor citing Article 3 Section 4 of the state
constitution, "the term of office of the governor's four
years beginning at noon on the first Monday in December
following his election, ending at noon on the first Monday
of December four years later." He pointed out however, that
this provision only addresses the term office but does not
specify when the elected governor must be seated. He
remarked that under existing procedure, the general
election is not certified until December 13, although the
term of office still begins on the first Monday of the
month, which is an earlier date. Therefore, he surmised
that a runoff election would require no term changes even
if the elected official were not seated until a later date.
Ms. Strasbaugh referred to litigation in other states where
a problem has been identified concerning whether the state
constitution must be followed precisely. She was concerned
that Co-Chair Parnell's scenario may not be that easy. She
stressed that any changes to the election process must be
pre-cleared by the US Department of Justice.
Senator Leman took issue with the previous witness's
comment that presidential elections were decided before
Alaska's voting was completed. He clarified that while the
polls in this state closed later than in other states, all
other states still have to count absentee ballots and
certify their elections as well.
Ms. Fenumani corrected her statement to apply to the
projected outcomes only.
Senator Taylor thought that with the new computerized
systems, elections are conducted much faster. He did not
think the time it would take to conduct a runoff election
would be a hardship.
Senator Leman asked if the sponsor's intent was to include
primary elections in the majority vote requirements.
Senator Taylor answered he only wanted this to apply to the
general election saying he thought the language of the
resolution made that clear. He explained that the primary
election does not directly elect a candidate to office.
Senator Leman agreed with that analysis but noted that
sometimes others read ballot initiatives differently and
wondered if the question should be cleared up now rather
than have difficulties in the future.
Senator Taylor did not think specific clarification was
necessary referring to page one, line eight of the
resolution that specifically states, "general election"
with no mention of the primary election.
Senator Phillips commented that of all concerns the
Division of Elections pointed out, the only legitimate one
he felt was the matter of timing. He suggested this issue
should be addressed. He spoke of the 14 days needed to
receive overseas absentee ballots and of other delays.
While he agreed that the automatic voting tabulation
system, AccuVote, made in-person ballot counting easier,
absentee ballots were a different matter.
Senator Taylor responded that in some close elections there
could be a recount, a second recount and even litigation.
Therefore, he thought runoff elections could be
accomplished in a reasonable amount of time.
Senator P. Kelly was unsure that the word "general" on page
one, line eight addressed the entire issue of whether
primary elections would be subject to the majority
restrictions. He pointed out that this section, Section 3.
Election, only refers to the governor and not to the
congressional and presidential candidates. Although he
agreed with the sponsor's interpretation that this
constitutional amendment should only apply to general
elections, he was concerned how others, including the
courts, would interpret the language.
Senator Leman objected to the adoption of Amendment #2
A roll call was taken on the motion.
IN FAVOR: Senator Wilken, Senator P. Kelly, Senator
Phillips, Co-Chair Parnell and Co-Chair Torgerson
OPPOSED: Senator Green, Senator Leman and Senator Adams
ABSENT: Senator Donley
The motion PASSED (5-3-1)
Senator Phillips asked for legal opinion on the impact a
runoff election would have on the timing of swearing-in of
the governor.
Co-Chair Torgerson said he would request a legal opinion
and that it could be prepared in time for the resolution to
reach the full Senate.
Co-Chair Parnell offered a motion to report SJR 40, 1-
LS1579\A, as amended from Committee with a $1,500 fiscal
note from the Division of Elections.
There was no objection and the resolution MOVED FROM
COMMITTEE.
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