01/31/2002 08:04 AM House STA
| Audio | Topic |
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
January 31, 2002
8:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative John Coghill, Chair
Representative Jeannette James
Representative Hugh Fate
Representative Gary Stevens
Representative Peggy Wilson
Representative Harry Crawford
Representative Joe Hayes
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 320
"An Act relating to the use of electronic ballots."
- MOVED HB 320 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 320
SHORT TITLE:AUTHORIZING ELECTRONIC BALLOTS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S)GREEN
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
01/14/02 1959 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
01/14/02 1959 (H) STA, FIN
01/14/02 1959 (H) REFERRED TO STATE AFFAIRS
01/16/02 1993 (H) COSPONSOR(S): MEYER, FATE,
HUDSON
01/30/02 2101 (H) COSPONSOR(S): KERTTULA
01/31/02 (H) STA RPT RECD AWAIT
TRANSMITTAL NXT
01/31/02 (H) STA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 102
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE JOE GREEN
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 403
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 320.
TONY SIRVELLO, Administrator of Elections
Harris County, Texas
(No address provided)
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified regarding HB 320, describing
technology used by Harris County to provide electronic voting to
its citizens.
LAURA ACHEE, Staff
to Representative Joe Green
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 403
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on behalf of the sponsor
regarding HB 320.
HELEN CRAIG
(No address provided)
Sitka, Alaska 99835
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 320.
ANDRE SWOOP, Representative
Lockheed Martin
(No address provided)
Denver, Colorado
POSITION STATEMENT: During hearing on HB 320, demonstrated the
features and functions of an electronic voting mechanism
developed by Lockheed Martin, I Paper, and Diversified
Technology.
DARRELL NELSON, Community Activity Coordinator
Access Alaska
20615 White Birch Road
Chugiak, Alaska 99567
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested changes to the language of HB
320.
BONNIE NELSON
20615 White Birch Road
Chugiak, Alaska 99567
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 320.
LYNNE KORAL, President
Alaska Independent Blind (AIB)
1102 West International Airport Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99518
POSITION STATEMENT: During hearing on HB 320, provided a
history of blind voters' move towards this legislation.
SANDY SANDERSON
(No address provided)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 320, indicating
populations the bill would benefit.
BILL CRAIG, Member
Alaska Independent Blind
(No address provided)
Sitka, Alaska 99835
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 320.
JUNE HAAS
(No address provided)
Haines, Alaska 99827
POSITION STATEMENT: During hearing on HB 320, told stories
regarding her late husband's work towards improving the quality
of life for the blind.
JANET KOWALSKI, Director
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
PO Box 110017
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0017
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified and answered questions regarding
the fiscal note for HB 320.
GAIL FENUMIAI, Election Program Specialist
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
PO Box 110017
Juneau, Alaska 99811-0017
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 320 and answered questions
regarding "special needs voting" and electronic voting equipment
compatibility.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 02-4, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the House State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. Representatives Fate,
Stevens, Crawford, Hayes, Wilson, James, and Coghill were
present at the call to order.
HB 320-AUTHORIZING ELECTRONIC BALLOTS
Number 0023
CHAIR COGHILL announced that the first order of business was
HOUSE BILL NO. 320, "An Act relating to the use of electronic
ballots."
Number 0062
REPRESENTATIVE JOE GREEN, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor
of HB 320, mentioned famous blind people such as Helen Keller
and Ray Charles. He said the majority of blind people are not
famous, and they lead normal lives, with one exception: they
have not been granted the right of privacy to vote. He
indicated it's wrong to deny them a right that Americans go to
war to preserve. Representative Green said there is no
guarantee - only hope - that the person assisting a blind person
at the polls actually records the correct vote. He told the
House State Affairs Standing Committee members they would be
shown the type of electronic voting equipment that would allow
blind people to vote in privacy. He passed around a segment of
an article which recently appeared in the Anchorage Daily News
[included in the committee packet].
Number 0375
TONY SIRVELLO, Administrator of Elections, Harris County, Texas,
testified via teleconference. He told the committee that
Houston is the "home city," and there are 1.8 million registered
voters [in Harris County].
Number 0472
LAURA ACHEE, Staff to Representative Joe Green, Alaska State
Legislature, testified on behalf of the sponsor regarding HB
320. She asked Mr. Sirvello to describe the experience of using
electronic balloting equipment in general, and to let the
committee know whether he had found it to be an easy process for
the voters. She also invited him to share some anecdotal
stories regarding electronic balloting.
MR. SIRVELLO told the committee that just prior to 1998, [the
City of] El Paso, Texas, was sued by the "El Paso coalition for
the blind," which claimed that it was improper that blind voters
require assistance while voting. The case received national
publicity, he added. Mr. Sirvello noted that [the City of] El
Paso was forced to use an audio tape system that required the
voter to play and rewind repeatedly. He said the coalition
pursued the same lawsuit throughout all of the counties in
Texas. He mentioned Beverly Kaufman (ph), who is the elected
county clerk in Harris County and was his boss at that time.
Mr. Sirvello stated that Ms. Kaufman wanted to seek a solution,
even had there not been the possibility of a lawsuit. He said
[the county clerk's office] met with the "blind coalition" and
their attorneys and decided to come up with a way, in the
general election of 1998, for the Harris County blind voters to
vote on the punch-card system, which the county was using and
would be using until November 2002.
MR. SIRVELLO said the system chosen was a telephone system. He
detailed it, as follows: If a blind voter wished to vote a
secret ballot, the election judge would dial a special number,
which connected that voter to a reader who was trained to read
to the blind. The reader would explain that in a punch-card
voting system, a person takes the punching stylus and moves it
down the holes in the ballot. The reader would let the blind
voter know which hole corresponded with which candidate of which
race, but could not see the ballot.
Number 0781
MR. SIRVELLO said testing on this system was done at the Houston
Council for the Blind and showed a remarkable amount of
accuracy; however, despite news coverage and the efforts of the
Houston Council to let disabled voters know about the
availability of the system, there were never more than 25 voters
who used it. He explained that the system was "a little
cumbersome."
MR. SIRVELLO told the committee that [the county clerk's office]
began looking for a new voting system in 1998 and 1999 because,
notwithstanding [the recent voting troubles] in Florida, its
staff knew that the Harris County punch-card system had outlived
its usefulness; they were concerned that it wouldn't even "hold
our ballot," because Harris County was a "two-party county."
They considered using an "optical system," but after a five-
month RFP [request for proposals] period decided that that
system did not offer the disabled voter any more secrecy in
voting than the punch cards did, and that it would be too much
of a lateral move - "one paper-based system to another," he
said.
Number 0857
MR. SIRVELLO noted that the current system was adopted in April
of 2001 and is called a "Hart Intercivic system." He mentioned
the creation of a task force, including Dr. Ed Bradley (ph) of
the Houston Council for the Blind, whose name had been
previously mentioned by Representative Green. Mr. Sirvello
characterized the current system as a "quantum leap" in what
blind voters can do, compared to what they could do in the past.
He described the current system, as follows:
It allows the blind voter to go in to the election
official [and] tell the election official they wish to
vote a secret ballot. The election official escorts
the blind voter over to the voting booth that contains
what's called "the disabled activity unit," places
headphones on the head of the blind voter, [and]
enters the access code for the blind voter, which
brings up that voter's ballot. ... Then, the voter is
basically on his or her own. By turning the wheel and
by pressing buttons, which the blind voter is
instructed to become familiar with first, the voter
gets an audible response on every one of their
choices.
Number 0946
So, for instance, the first thing on our ballot this
fall would be the race for U.S. Senator for the state
of Texas. And when you turn the knob - turn the wheel
- you get a response back: "United States Senator."
And the reading that is done for this voter is also
recorded by readers that are familiar with reading for
the blind at the right pace at which a blind voter
likes to hear reading back to them. So, they are
allowed, then, to rotate through the ballot. If they
turn the wheel again, they will hear the first
candidate.
And in Texas the parties are listed by whichever
party's candidate for governor received the most votes
in the state in the previous gubernatorial election.
So, in Texas, what you might hear this November is:
"United States Senator, candidate one, John Koerning
(ph), Republican. If this is your choice, press the
'enter' button now." Once you press the enter button,
you get a response back that says, "You have chosen to
vote for John Koerning (ph). If this is OK, move on
to the next race." If this is not your choice, you
press the enter button again. That erases that vote
and you move on to the next candidate, which could be
"Ken Benson, Democrat," and so on, through the entire
ballot. You're allowed to skip a race, if you don't
want to vote that race at all, and move as quickly or
as slowly as you wish.
Number 1088
At the very end of the ballot, once you have voted the
last race - which this November would ... be the race
for justice of the peace - you then would get what's
called a ballot review playback, in which case you
rotate through and, once more, every one of your
choices is repeated back to you, so that you can go
back and change your mind. Or, if you missed a race,
you can go back and catch that race the second time
around.
MR. SIRVELLO mentioned some elections during which this system
had been used. He said significantly more blind voters use this
system and it was incredibly well received. Through word of
mouth, Mr. Sirvello said, [the county clerk's office] predicts
that the system will be even more utilized during the February
23 early voting for the March 12 primaries.
Number 1150
MR. SIRVELLO recounted a story of a man who had just had an eye
exam and had dilated pupils. He said the man asked if someone
could read the ballot to him, because the screen hurt his eyes.
The election judge offered the man the use of the headphones, he
said, and the man thought that was very useful.
MR. SIRVELLO mentioned "jelly switches," which are colored red
and green. He explained that they are useful for voters with
immobility in their hands because they can use their elbows or
wrists on the jelly switch. One jelly switch moves the voters
through to the next race, and the other jelly switch casts their
vote, he added. Mr. Sirvello also mentioned a "sip and puff"
device like [paralyzed actor] Christopher Reeve uses. He said
the system allows voters who use this device to plug it into the
unit. They would sip to rotate through the ballot and puff to
execute their ballot.
Number 1336
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked Mr. Sirvello if the system he spoke
of allowed the voter to go back numerous times to change a vote.
MR. SIRVELLO replied that a voter can return to any particular
race on a ballot as many times as needed, without having to
rotate through the entire ballot, until the button called "cast
ballot" is pushed. At that point, the vote has been
electronically recorded, he added.
Number 1406
REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS said he thought it was a wonderful idea
to allow everyone to use a secret ballot. He asked Mr. Sirvello
to describe the security of the ballots and to say whether there
was any chance of anybody misusing the system.
MR. SIRVELLO said any system is only as good as the people who
are operating it; however, this particular voting system is
equipped with numerous safeguards. He listed three "redundant
storages" of the ballot: on a magnetic card; on the "judges
booth controller," which is the device that actually sends the
ballot to the voting device; and on each individual voting
device. He said someone would have to tamper with all three
pieces of equipment. Mr. Sirvello noted that [the county
clerk's office] has security measures in the delivery and pickup
of those pieces of equipment.
Number 1528
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES surmised that this system would not allow
illegible votes or double votes.
MR. SIRVELLO said that was correct, and he characterized that as
an added benefit of electric voting systems. He noted that [the
county clerk's office] had been using punch cards since 1982,
and he will be happy to get rid of them because of the high
incidence of "overvote" - too many voters not understanding when
they are voting twice in one race. In the electronic system the
county uses, once a vote for one candidate in a race has been
executed, a vote for a second candidate will automatically erase
the vote for the first one, he explained. He added that a voter
may choose to cast a "no-vote."
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES asked if "able" voters receive the same
type of ballot, and how they would double-check to be sure that
they voted for the right person.
Number 1632
MR. SIRVELLO clarified that Representative James was referring
to a sighted voter when she used the word "able." He said the
sighted voter moves through the screen the same way that the
disabled voter does, except instead of an audio response he or
she gets a visual response; the selection is lighted on the
screen. The summary page is a visual one in which the voter
sees all of the offices on the left side of the screen and those
that were chosen on the right. If no selection is made, the
words, "no selection" are shown in red. The voter may then
choose to rotate the wheel down to that particular choice and
press "enter," which will allow the voter to select a candidate
if that vote was previously overlooked.
Number 1710
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES asked Mr. Sirvello to explain what would
happen to votes in the case of a power outage.
MR. SIRVELLO replied that any type of electronic system has
alternating current (AC) power. The system used by [Harris
County] has an 18-hour battery backup. If there were a power
outage, the battery would kick on automatically; there would be
no loss of votes or interruption to the voters.
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that it seemed this system would
be beneficial to others, not only the disabled.
MR. SIRVELLO mentioned a disabled activity unit, which is taken
out to the disabled voter's car. It can be disconnected, he
said, because it has a battery attached to it. After the voter
votes on it, the device is brought back inside and plugged in,
whereby the vote is automatically recorded onto the master unit.
Number 1815
REPRESENTATIVE FATE mentioned 18 hours of power outage, national
disasters, and what he called "the hard-drive memory." He asked
Mr. Sirvello, if voting information is transferred, how it is
retained and how secure it is.
Number 1856
MR. SIRVELLO reiterated that there are two hard-drive memories.
One is in the [election] judge's booth controller, which houses
the votes that have been recorded. Mr. Sirvello added that the
system has the capacity to hold 12 voting devices that are
"attached in a series." The booth controller contains what is
called "the cast-vote record" for all twelve devices. The
devices themselves contain only the votes cast on that one
device, he said. Mr. Sirvello noted that the other device is
called "the mobile ballot box." It is the primary source for
cast-vote records and is the device used to count the votes on
election night, he added.
Number 1908
REPRESENTATIVE FATE asked Mr. Sirvello how much it costs to
change over to the electronic equipment.
MR. SIRVELLO answered as follows:
First of all, when we put out our RFP, in addition to
buying a voting system that would be utilized in
Harris County during our early voting by personal
appearance -- ... I don't know how familiar your
committee is with early voting by personal appearance
in the State of Texas, but it is a very large
phenomenon, and it goes on for practically two weeks
before election day, to the extent that almost 20
percent of our total vote now is cast during that
period. But in order to handle that situation and
election day voting, we asked for an electronic voting
system. For voting by mail, we asked for an optical-
scan system, to replace our punch-card system, because
we didn't want to use punch-card for voting by mail,
either. So, ... we will be using - this primary
season - an optical-scan system for voting by mail.
And then the third part of our RFP asked for an
election management system that would replace what
we've been using as an in-house system, that would
totally manage things like polling places, election
day officials, payroll, current officials, all of
that. So, it was one very large package, and that's
the way the RFP -- but in order to make a total
changeover, the bid that was awarded to Hart
Intercivic was $25.2 million.
Number 2005
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES commented that the value of that would not
necessarily relate to Alaska [because of a difference in
population].
MR. SIRVELLO responded that [Harris County's] figures were based
not only on its population, but also on its 1.8 million
registered voters.
CHAIR COGHILL noted that the entire population of Alaska is
620,000.
Number 2075
HELEN CRAIG, testifying via teleconference, told the committee
she is a member of a sign-language group called "Silent Bridges"
and of [Alaska Independent] Blind, with Sandy Sanderson as
president. She mentioned that Mr. Sanderson and her own
husband, Tony Craig, were present in the committee room. She
stated her support of HB 320. She indicated there is a
population of deaf and hard-of-hearing people and people in
wheelchairs who live in Alaska. She said the aforementioned
electronic voting system sounded good, but asked if it could be
adapted for someone who is deaf as well as blind.
Number 2190
MS. ACHEE responded that the Division of Elections had recently
held a meeting with its community advisory panel regarding
accessible voting for the visually impaired, during which the
topic addressed in Ms. Craig's question had been mentioned. Ms.
Achee clarified that Mr. Sirvello only described equipment that
his county uses. She said there was a representative from
Lockheed Martin to show another piece of equipment being
considered by the Division of Elections. She noted that every
[model] of equipment was different, some with directions on the
equipment itself. She stated her belief that the division would
choose the equipment that met the needs of most people. Of the
four pieces of equipment that Ms. Achee saw, she said none of
them offered a Braille option for the ballot; furthermore, she
said she did not know whether that feature existed on other
companies' systems. She said that would "come up" when the
Division of Elections made its decision regarding what equipment
to buy.
Number 2252
MS. CRAIG said there are many voters around the state who could
benefit from an electronic voting system. She said, "This is a
great way to ensure that their patriotic spirit is also being
addressed."
Number 2312
REPRESENTATIVE FATE questioned sending a bill with a zero fiscal
note to the House Finance Committee when the equipment will
actually cost a considerable amount of money.
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN informed Representative Fate that the
equipment will be added "as it's replaced." In response to a
request for clarification from Chair Coghill, he explained that
as the equipment that is now in use is replaced, it will be
replaced with equipment "receptive to the sight-impaired."
Number 2392
ANDRE SWOOP, Representative, Lockheed Martin, came before the
committee to give a demonstration of an electronic voting system
developed by the combined efforts of Lockheed Martin, I Paper,
and Diversified Technology. He began his demonstration at the
moment at which a voter would be stepping up to the voting
device, which he said weighed 8 pounds and presently was powered
by battery backup. He divided his demonstration into two
categories: First, Mr. Swoop showed the committee members how
the machine worked for a sighted voter. Second, he showed them
how easily adaptable it was for the use of a visually impaired
voter.
MR. SWOOP demonstrated the steps a sighted voter would take, as
follows: The voter is given a PCMCIA [Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association] card to swipe. The pages of the
ballot show one at a time, with each race and each candidate of
that race listed. A number appears beside each candidate listed
on the screen. The voter's selection is made by pressing the
number next to the candidate's name on the screen. Changes can
be made by pressing another button. A space is available for a
write-in, with a letter keypad to the right of the screen for
the voter to type in the name. The final page summarizes all
selections made. There are two buttons on the board. The
"back-page" button allows the voter to change previous
selections. The green button records the ballot - "the
equivalent of taking a ballot card and dropping it in the ballot
box" - and an audible message is heard letting the voter know
that the ballot has been recorded.
MR. SWOOP explained that at that point, the voter would hand the
card in to a poll worker who would use a "smart card activation
device" to clear the card of prior data so that it could be
reused.
MR. SWOOP next detailed the steps a visually impaired voter
would take: After inserting the PCMCIA card, the visually
impaired voter uses three buttons, which control moving to the
next page, scrolling back to a previous page, and selecting the
candidate. When the voter pushes the green button to select a
candidate, a recorded voice gives a verbal confirmation of the
choice made. After the visually impaired voter has completed
the ballot, the recorded voice gives a summary of the choices
made. Pushing the green button indicates acceptance of those
choices, at which point the voter will retrieve the card and
submit it to the poll worker.
MR. SWOOP told the committee that the electronic voting device
is very flexible; it can produce a custom-made ballot. The
software is included, he added. The cost of the machines is
approximately $1,700 per unit, depending on the volume of the
order. Additionally, Mr. Swoop said one would need a smart card
activation device and a printer, which would have a combined
cost of approximately $1,000.
Number 2840
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked Mr. Swoop how a visually impaired
person would execute a write-in.
MR. SWOOP replied that it would require a modicum of assistance,
because it would involve the use of the keypad; however, the
company is investigating possibilities of adding Braille as a
feature.
Number 2860
REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS mentioned that his mother suffers from
macular degeneration and has problems with [the size of the
buttons] on telephones. He observed that the model machine
before the committee had one large green button, but the other
two buttons were small. He stated his belief that someone with
visual impairment would have difficulty knowing which button to
push. He also mentioned the keyboard. He said he was not sure
the company had perfected the machine yet, and he hoped it
would.
MR. SWOOP conceded that the device before the committee was
first-generation. He said one of the considerations of the
company was to make those two buttons not only larger, but in
the shape of raised arrows that would be tangible. One of the
arrows would face right to indicate "page forward," and the
other would face left to indicate "page back."
MR. SWOOP, regarding the aforementioned software, added that it
has a variable-sized font, multiple language capabilities, and
audio capabilities, all included in the package price. Mr.
Swoop continued, as follows:
Once a poll is opened, the poll manager would come to
each machine and print what is called "an open poll
report." Each device can be connected to this
portable printer here, and you get a hardcopy printout
of what's on that machine before any voter comes in
and touches it. So, you know what the benchmark is in
terms of verifying that all the machines are at zero,
OK. At that point, when that's all done, the polls
will be open. ... You would allow the voting to occur
during the day, and at the end of the day, similarly,
the poll manager would go to each device and do a
"close poll" function. ... At that point, you would
have the ballot data stored in flash memory on this
machine. It would also be copied onto a PCMCIA card
such as this ... and also on a printout. So, you
would have it on three places.
As far as trying to get the results to a central
election facility, I realize there are some great
distances between locations here in Alaska. I'm not
sure exactly how that's done today, but I would
imagine you could phone that information in, in a
preliminary form, followed up by the shipment of the
hardcopy and/or the actual data card for historical
purposes or verification purposes.
MR. SWOOP also mentioned that the voter could use a headset to
maintain privacy.
TAPE 02-4, SIDE B
Number 2973
DARRELL NELSON, Community Activity Coordinator, Access Alaska,
testifying via teleconference, referred to page 2, line[s] 5
[and 6] of the bill and asked the committee to change the words,
"visually impaired" to "persons with disabilities", and "without
assistance" to "in secret". Without that change, Mr. Nelson
said that part of the bill addresses only those who are visually
impaired and excludes many people with other disabilities.
Number 2907
CHAIR COGHILL told Mr. Nelson that was an issue that would be
addressed.
MR. NELSON noted that he is visually impaired, is hearing
impaired, and has Bell's palsy.
Number 2825
BONNIE NELSON, testifying via teleconference, told the committee
that she was a teacher and has worked with many people,
including Mr. Nelson, whom she helped to achieve his bachelor's
degree. She indicated that many people have reading problems
for reasons other than visual impairment. Furthermore, many
people are both visually impaired and hearing impaired. Those
people could benefit from voting electronically. She said,
"This is a wonderful bill, and we're 100 percent in support of
it." She added that she agreed with Mr. Nelson that any new
machines purchased should be accessible to all persons with all
disabilities. She mentioned an eventual capability of voting by
mail, which would help those with disabilities at home, as well
as people at work who cannot leave to go to a polling place.
Ms. Nelson said in some cases it would be impossible not to
assist a voter, but she stressed the importance of [equipping
people with the means] to vote in secrecy.
Number 2663
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Ms. Nelson if she had heard the prior
testimony regarding taking the electronic voting equipment out
to the disabled voter's car.
MS. NELSON answered she had. She stated her belief that that
was an important feature. She suggested the ability to take
laptop computers and CDs [compact disks] out to people's homes
exists now, and "it still would not generate ... the cost ...
that we're looking at." Ms. Nelson clarified that she supported
the use of new technology; however, existing technology could be
used in the meantime.
Number 2565
REPRESENTATIVE GREEN stated his belief that Ms. Nelson's
questions would be more appropriately brought to the Division of
Elections board members when the time comes to replace
equipment. He said advances are being made every year. "This
bill just authorizes that ... to happen," he concluded. "We
won't be involved in the actual selection of equipment. That
will be by Division of Elections."
Number 2540
MS. NELSON asked if HB 320 would authorize the use of "CDs and
floppies" so people can use their computers to vote by mail.
CHAIR COGHILL replied he did not think that was in the scope of
the bill; however, it would not limit that discussion. He
added, "That may be one question we'll look for an answer to."
Number 2474
LYNNE KORAL, President, Alaska Independent Blind (AIB), came
before the committee. She emphasized that it was blind people
who first brought this issue to Texas, as well as other
locations around the country. She said this issue is one of the
priorities for AIB's parent organization, the American Council
of the Blind, of which the Houston Council of the Blind is a
member. She mentioned a legislative dinner, presented by AIB,
and characterized it as "a very electrical and magical
experience." The [electronic voting] device from Hart
Intercivic [was shown at that dinner]. Ms. Koral submitted
paperwork [available in the committee packet] regarding both
Hart Intercivic and Diebold, formerly known as Global Election
Systems.
MS. KORAL said, "We know that the people who have brought this
issue to the forefront are the blind and visually impaired
people who first brought it up, and we are very concerned that
other people with disabilities have access to vote." She
expressed excitement regarding the "sip and puff" technology and
the tactile switches for the Hart Intercivic "eSlate" machine.
Ms. Koral noted that she has also served as chair of the
community advisory committee on voter accessibility, which is
sponsored by the Division of Elections. A machine has not yet
been selected because no one machine serves all functions, she
said. She concurred with a former testifier's statement, which
recommended choosing a machine with the broadest application
available.
MS. KORAL continued, as follows:
We have been trying to talk to the Division of
Elections - and thank goodness they are listening now
- since 1994, since Frank Haas asked for large-print
ballots. I'm not going to let this bill be either
diluted or confused by changing it substantially. I
would prefer that not to happen. We were the ones
that brought this issue to legislators, and we
absolutely appreciate the ... support that we know is
out there. And just to prove that: the Kenai
independent living [center's] was the first support
letter that we received and that Representative Green
received.
Number 2290
MS. KORAL stated that voting without assistance was the key
issue here. She said blind people have had to deal with this
all of their lives. Ms. Koral opined that voting in private is
the right of every human being. Ms. Koral mentioned two now-
deceased members who [dealt with this issue]: Frank Haas and
Don Graham (ph). She recounted that Mr. Graham had been
horrified when someone in his small town pointed out they knew
how he had voted. Referring to Mr. Nelson's previous testimony,
Ms. Koral said she would not mind if the words "in secrecy" were
inserted into the bill, but only as an addition to, not a
substitution for "without assistance". She indicated that
people would ask for assistance if they still needed it. People
with visual impairment want to have their lives back and make
their own decisions about voting, she said. She noted that the
next witness - Sandy Sanderson - was the founder of AIB.
Number 2185
CHAIR COGHILL responded, as follows:
I think what we'll do is, when we get to the
department, we might ask if the "secrecy" part is
presumed, and that this is just adding to the
"assistance" part. And I think that question might be
answered in the affirmative if I understand our laws
correctly. So, we'll bring that point up, though.
Number 2100
SANDY SANDERSON came before the committee in support of HB 320.
He said the bill would no longer make it necessary for blind
people to be accompanied by their spouse and to have to assume
that their vote would be as they wanted it to be. He mentioned
opposing political beliefs between spouses. He stated his
belief that the [electronic voting] machines have the capability
to give instructions in various languages, and he noted that
many of the elders throughout the state cannot read the printed
word. He mentioned others who would benefit, such as people
with dyslexia or those who are illiterate. Mr. Sanderson told
the committee that there are 12,500 blind people in the state -
more per capita than in any other state. He said he hopes
legislators realize that they are there because of "the vote,"
and he hopes they cherish that as much as he does.
Number 1974
BILL CRAIG, Member, Alaska Independent Blind, came before the
committee in support of HB 320. He told the committee that he
was declared legally blind in 1994 and has been working with the
AIB since then. He added that he was "down to 80 percent
hearing" in his right ear and deaf in his left ear. He stated
his hope that the Division of Elections would consider those who
are deaf and blind. Although there is a low incidence rate in
Alaska, he said there are "a number of elders in the state that
are losing their sight and hearing, so it's an underestimated
area." He indicated his aunt, who speaks mostly Tlingit since
having a stroke and doesn't understand written English [would
benefit from the electronic voting].
Number 1883
REPRESENTATIVE FATE asked if the cause of the high incidence of
blind people in the state had been determined.
MR. CRAIG cited the following reasons: numerous high-risk jobs
in the state; and the village of Minto, where virtually everyone
has [retinitis pigmentosa] in his/her genes. Most of the
children there are legally blind by age 17, he noted. In
response to a follow-up question by Representative Fate, Mr.
Craig replied that the incidents are statewide, not just rural.
Number 1828
MS. KORAL noted additional causes: tuberculosis, diabetes, and
lack of ophthalmologic services.
Number 1814
REPRESENTATIVE FATE said he appreciated "the courage and the
tenacity that you folks have shown in this."
CHAIR COGHILL noted that one of the witnesses no longer at the
stand had commented that [these visually impaired testifiers]
were known as "the pit bulls of Alaska."
Number 1775
JUNE HAAS, wife of the late Frank Haas, came before the
committee and spoke of her late husband. She said he was a
disabled veteran who became legally blind in 1984 and
fortunately, through the VA [Veterans' Administration], was able
to go to Palo Alto to receive very good training [in adapting to
blindness]. Ms. Haas added that people could not tell just by
looking at Mr. Haas that he was blind. She said during the
eighth week out of nine, the spouse of the blind person joins
the training to learn the capabilities and limitations of their
spouse. The instructors give the spouse ideas for home life,
but also "charge the spouse with keeping the person
independent," she said.
MS. HAAS told the committee that Mr. Haas had been active in
getting "access vans" on the ferries and having the sidewalks
cut properly to allow for wheelchair access. The one thing that
he had not been able to convince the legislature of was the need
for independence in voting; consequently, Ms. Haas stated, she
was pleased when AIB brought up the issue to the legislature.
She conceded that she and her husband had not always voted
alike, and said Mr. Haas had wanted to be able to vote by
himself, without her in the booth with him.
MS. HAAS said that Alaska is growing older as a state and the
population of the Borough of Haines is growing older, as well.
In the past, older people were "shipped down stateside," but now
it is possible for them to stay in Alaska. She told the
committee that Haines has had many issues decided by a single
vote, including the office of the current mayor.
MS. HAAS noted that there were many people in Haines with
macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Many Native
Alaskans suffer from diabetes, which is not detected in the
early stages. Ms. Haas recounted an incident in Haines in which
one woman with macular degeneration came to the polling place to
vote: The woman could not stand at length, and there was no
place for her to sit. After 15 minutes the woman was given a
ballot. She sat out on the stairway with her magnifying glass,
in full public view, and she voted. The experience was so
traumatic that the woman said she would not vote again.
Number 1394
MS. HAAS said there are several votes, statewide, that are not
being counted, because the [visually impaired] voters find the
process too difficult, degrading, and discouraging. She
mentioned a blind student presently in school who is doing well.
She asked the committee if "we" are going to tell her, when she
turns 18, that she can't vote unless she has someone else to
help her. She said, "So, we have quite a few students in this
state that are getting very good training - we're helping our
people - but we need to give them the independence that they
need." Ms. Haas mentioned her belief that the committee had
heard from Legionnaires, Elks, the city council, and so forth,
regarding this issue, because those groups all appreciate what
Mr. Haas has done in the past. She concluded that she
appreciated the efforts of the committee regarding this issue.
Number 1351
CHAIR COGHILL listed some topics to consider regarding HB 320,
as follows: the connectivity of [the bill] to the present
system; an explanation of the fiscal note for the bill, which
has a House Standing Finance Committee referral; and privacy
issues.
Number 1310
JANET KOWALSKI, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, came before the committee and thanked
Representative Green for the "fairly artful" language of the
fiscal note. She said she had been researching the project for
about a year before the topic of legislation was approached.
She stated it was clear to her that the current [polling] system
is working and it would be imprudent to replace it; the
technology has evolved, so there is no reason [the Division of
Elections] should not be offering "these services."
Number 1272
MS. KOWALSKI informed members that the zero fiscal note was
based on two things: First, the language in the bill is
permissive, rather than restrictive; it states that if money is
spent, it must be spent on accessible equipment. Ms. Kowalski
noted that the Division of Elections routinely buys everything
from batteries to software upgrades to machine warranties and
repairs. She continued as follows:
The legislature did pass statutes last session to
grant the division early voting - you heard a little
bit about that. Early voting, essentially, is 15 days
before the election. We are asking for equipment for
that as part of that program. ...
A third opportunity - that certainly we're not
counting on - is we are working closely with our
congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. There
has been a voter reform bill that's passed both the
House and the Senate. They're different. We're going
to conference. Both those bills contain provisions -
after the Florida episode - for states to improve
their voting equipment. So, our D.C. office is
working on making sure that that money would extend
for accessible equipment. ...
Number 1100
In the meantime, if none of those things happen, given
the state's fiscal status right now, what this bill
says is, "OK, you can stay where you are, but the
minute you go forward, then you're going forward with
accessible equipment. So, in the polling place, most
of these machines require one voter at a time. So,
what we're looking at as a practical matter is our
optical-scan machine will still stay in the polling
place, and voters who want to use the paper ballot ...
can do so, and voters who want more assistance can
then use the machines. And as we talked ... about
where do we put them, it's been a fairly strategic
discussion. ... We only have one or two to start.
Should we have them in regional offices, maybe at a
private nonprofit? We already do that. We have an
absentee station at Access Alaska, which is highly
utilized.
Number 1074
The privacy issue, to me, is just very, very powerful.
Folks testify. You know, they're right: you're in a
booth and you're talking. We have other programs, and
I know you have a question on that, and I'll have Gail
[Fenumiai] answer that. But the bottom line is: if
you are a blind voter in Alaska, you cannot vote right
now in total privacy; you must have assistance. We
have a strong program for that, but there is no
privacy. So I think, given ... the finances and
everything else, that this is a time to make this
choice. And instead of trying to fund a system in
every precinct, I think that we can look at our
existing resources, again, the normal operating funds
we use to maintain. And then, hopefully, we would see
some federal money, as well. So, I wouldn't let the
lack of a fiscal note stop the project, because I
think it's very worthy.
CHAIR COGHILL asked if there was other in-home voting, in
addition to Access Alaska.
Number 0999
GAIL FENUMIAI, Election Program Specialist, Division of
Elections, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, came before the
committee to respond to Chair Coghill's query. She said the
division has a process called "special needs voting" by which a
voter can choose a representative to bring a ballot to that
voter's home and return the ballot to an election official. The
representative may provide assistance to that voter, if needed.
MS. FENUMIAI, in regard to Chair Coghill's mention of
"connectivity," said any system purchased by the division that
meets the needs of the visually impaired would be useful with
the current system. She continued:
The obvious implication is the manufacturer of the
current system we have has a system that would allow
the visually impaired to ... vote a secret ballot
[and] would connect with our system, without any
problem at all. The other systems could be used and
would be treated, probably, in the manner of a hand-
count precinct, of which the results would be
tabulated electronically, and then we would treat them
as a hand count and manually enter them into this
current system that we have. ... There shouldn't be a
problem with (indisc.) together. There wouldn't be an
electronic merger tabulation of the two systems
together. It would probably have to be more of a
manual process, but it is doable.
Number 0892
REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS complimented the Division of Elections
and its system. He said he assumed that as new equipment was
purchased, it would be limited to one polling place, for
instance, so that a visually impaired person would have to make
the choice to travel to that polling place in order to vote
unassisted. He asked what happens to that vote cast outside of
that voter's usual precinct, and when it would be counted.
Number 0798
MS. KOWALSKI answered, as follows:
That's an excellent question. If, under ... our
current policies and procedures, and statutes and
regulations, I wanted to vote on a secret-ballot
machine and I didn't want to vote ahead of time. ...
[I'd] go to a polling place. Now, under our current
system you would vote a question or a challenge
ballot. Two things on that: Number one, both sides
of the federal legislation require that states have
assistance for that. We already do so; we're in good
shape. The manufacturers who are following all this -
virtually, all four of them - were able to show us
that, in that key card you saw demonstrated, the
polling place worker can actually program that as a
question ballot. And so it's segregated in the
database, and so our state review board and our
regional question ballot board would have the same
review function that they do now with paper. But
under current policies and procedures it would be a
partial count.
However - and we haven't reviewed the other statutes
thoroughly - all of these machines allow us to
program, say, 2,000 different ballot types. If we
were to set up ... early voting, [for instance], I can
walk in Anchorage [at the polling place] and be sure,
either through an absentee or early voting. We could
actually set up all the ballots on these computers,
like we do, say, for absentee voting at the airports.
We look you up in the computer so we can get you the
right ballot. We could actually do something like
that.
Number 0693
I think that there is momentum on this project. I had
Greg Moyer, who's the new city clerk of Anchorage, sit
on my community advisory committee the last couple of
days, and he kept saying to me, "We could buy some of
these." He was very excited by the technology. I
think all of us in the administrative chairs felt
strongly about the security that you asked about
earlier .... All these machines have redundant
systems. And, as the person sitting here, I have to
tell you that that is a huge concern of mine. On
election night, I don't even breathe until the modem
board lights. ... And it works beautifully every time,
and we've done our homework and our testing, but I
can't breathe until the first results come in. So, I
really do think that ... it would grow without,
necessarily, a very formal "we're going to go out and
replace them all at once." Other municipalities would
be able to buy ... one, two machines. They'd borrow
our equipment.
Number 0591
REPRESENTATIVE FATE mentioned page 2, lines 4-6, of the bill.
He said this really does have some kind of a cost. He said that
cost may be pending, but because of current problems with the
budget gap, the committee really needs to know [what that cost
is]. Notwithstanding that, Representative Fate said he would
like to see HB 320 move out of committee.
Number 0494
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES, based upon her years as a legislator, told
Representative Fate that even if the bill is passed out of
committee with a fiscal note and is sent to the House Finance
Standing Committee, it is possible for the House Finance
Standing Committee to pass the legislation without funding the
fiscal note. She said, "When you have something like this, when
there is no scheduled time for which this is going to be done,
there's no way to attach a fiscal note to it, and it probably
would mean, possibly, an appropriation in the next budget."
Representative James stated her belief that a zero fiscal note
on HB 320 was appropriate.
Number 0364
REPRESENTATIVE FATE moved to report HB 320 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
note. There being no objections, HB 320 was moved out of the
House State Affairs Standing Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
State Affairs Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:35
a.m.
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