HB 83-PROHIBIT VOTING BY FACSIMILE    4:24:17 PM CO-CHAIR FIELDS announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 83, "An Act relating to voting by electronic transmission in a state election; and providing for an effective date." 4:24:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE WOOL moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for HB 83, labeled 31-LS0635\M, Bullard, 3/11/19. There being no objection, Version M was before the committee. 4:25:26 PM CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS, as prime sponsor of HB 83, Version M, relayed that the proposed legislation was drafted in response to recommendations by national security experts on steps Alaska could take to fortify the integrity of its election system. He said that the Division of Elections (DOE) has made some regulatory changes as part of an ongoing effort to make improvements in the security of the election system. He stated that one of the recommendations from the national experts was to discontinue electronic - or non-analog - return of ballots to DOE, therefore, avoiding the possibility of a ballot being tampered with or manipulated in the process of its return to DOE. He mentioned that DOE has discontinued accepting ballots by email and facsimile (fax) for the same reason, since transit over internet connections would be susceptible to tampering. He added that fax return of ballots is outdated. 4:28:01 PM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether the proposed legislation would change the rules regarding DOE sending out ballots by fax. 4:28:15 PM JOHN SCANLON, Staff, Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Alaska State Legislature, replied that Version M would not change the ability of DOE to deliver absentee ballots to voters by fax. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX expressed her understanding that currently you may receive a faxed ballot from DOE after the time has passed for DOE to send absentee ballots out by mail. She asked whether currently one has the choice to return the ballot to DOE by fax or by mail. MR. SCANLON responded that the only absentee ballots that may be returned by fax are absentee ballots that a voter received by fax or through an online ballot delivery system. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether a ballot must be sent back to DOE by fax if received by fax or whether it may be sent back by mail. MR. SCANLON replied that currently someone receiving a ballot by fax may return it by fax or by mail. REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked for clarification. She stated that her understanding was that a ballot could not be returned by fax. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS answered by saying that currently ballots may be returned by fax; under the proposed legislation, a ballot would not be allowed to be returned by fax. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX suggested that since DOE barred return of ballots by email, it could, on its own, change the rules with respect to faxed ballots. CO-CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS offered his understanding that DOE had regulatory authority to disallow ballot return by email. 4:31:51 PM GAIL FENUMIAI, Director, Division of Elections (DOE), Office of the Lieutenant Governor (OLG), responded that it was her understanding that in 2018, DOE made an internal decision to disallow the return of ballots through the online ballot delivery system. She explained that the system is not strictly email; it is a portal system which consists of an open network over the internet. She added that she does not have any more history on that decision but would be willing to research it and provide the committee with more information. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether it is necessary to pass HB 83 to change the rules with respect to the returning of ballots by fax, or if DOE could accomplish the change on its own through a regulatory change. MS. FENUMIAI replied that statutes specifically identify the returning of voted ballots by fax. She referred to AS 15.20.066(b), which references the return of voted ballots by fax; that statutory reference would need to be repealed to allow the change. REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked for confirmation that there is no statutory reference to the returning of ballots through the portal system. MS. FENUMIAI answered that to the best of her knowledge, there is no specific reference to [the portal system]; the portal system is another form of voting by electronic transmission. She added that AS 15.20.066 specifically mentions returning ballots by facsimile. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL suggested that the internet has security issues regardless of the type of transmission; therefore, the fax is being eliminated altogether [for ballot return]. MS. FENUMIAI responded that the fax being discussed is a "true" faxing - through a fax machine. She said that the security concerns come from how the term faxing has changed over time. There are many different types of methods of faxing; one can fax through telephone applications and non-analog type lines, which was the existing version of technology in 1966 when the statutes were first implemented; and since then technology has changed. She relayed that there is concern that with the modern method of faxing, there may be a "middleman" type of interference. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL suggested that no matter how an individual receives a ballot, DOE wants a paper ballot returned, and it is the only way it will accept the ballot. MS. FENUMIAI replied, "It's all paper ballot." She said that currently if someone was to return a ballot by fax, DOE could not use that actual ballot in the count. The DOE bi-partisan review board would have to make a facsimile of a facsimile onto the AccuVote ballot paper for the vote to be counted. REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked for confirmation that under the proposed legislation, the faxed ballot would no longer be accepted. The voter must return a hard copy of the ballot to DOE; it cannot be returned electronically. MS. FENUMIAI answered, "That's correct. It would have to be returned by mail - by the U.S. Postal Service." 4:36:54 PM REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX asked whether someone, who receives an absentee ballot either by fax or mail, may drop it off at a polling station. MS. FENUMIAI responded affirmatively and added that a person may take it into a polling station or any regional office of DOE. REPRESENTATIVE VANCE referred to the use of a privacy sleeve, making the ballot legitimate. She asked how the process - of a ballot being received by the voter by fax and returned to DOE by mail - is valid and secure from tampering, if it didn't come in a privacy sleeve like a traditional ballot. MS. FENUMIAI relayed that the voter is supplied with instructions on putting the voted ballot inside an envelope before putting it into the envelope to be mailed back to DOE. She added that voters who receive a ballot by fax and return it by fax also sign a special oath declaring that they acknowledge they could possibly be waiving their rights to a secret ballot by returning the ballot by that method. CO-CHAIR FIELDS asked, "What if ... the Russians ... were to look at our voting rolls and identify a group of registered voters and request absentee ballots that would be emailed to them or ... faxed to them, and then fill out those ballots on their behalf and return them?" He asked, "... what protection would there be to validate that information and prevent the kind of fraud that occurs ... analogous ... to tax return fraud ..." He acknowledged that the legitimate voter might go to the polls on Election Day only to discover that [a vote had already been cast in his/her name]. He asked whether that scenario has occurred and whether it is something DOE is aware of and guards against. MS. FENUMIAI answered that if someone applies to vote by mail or by fax, the application is taken at face value. If DOE can identify the voter based on the identification that he/she provides and there is a signature, DOE accepts the application. CO-CHAIR FIELDS stated that HB 83 would be held over.