00 HOUSE BILL NO. 349 01 "An Act relating to elections; relating to the division of elections; relating to 02 voter registration procedures; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 15.07.050 is amended to read: 05  Sec. 15.07.050.  MANNER OF REGISTRATION [IN PERSON OR BY 06 MAIL]. Registration may be made 07   (1) in person before a registration official or through a voter registration 08 agency; 09  (2) [, OR MAY BE MADE] by mail; or 10  (3) by facsimile transmission or another method of electronic 11 transmission that the director approves. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 15.07.070(b) is amended to read: 13  (b) To register by mail or by facsimile or other electronic transmission 14 approved by the director under AS 15.07.050, the director, the area election 01 supervisor, or a voter registration agency shall furnish, at no cost to the voter, forms 02 prepared by the director on which the registration information required under 03 AS 15.07.060 shall be inserted by the voter, or by a person on behalf of the voter if 04 the voter is physically incapacitated. The director may require proof of identification 05 of the applicant as required by regulations adopted by the director under AS 44.62 06 [THE] (Administrative Procedure Act) [(AS 44.62)]. Upon receipt and approval of the 07 completed registration forms the director or the election supervisor shall forward to the 08 voter an acknowledgment in the form of a registration card, and the voter's name shall 09 immediately be placed on the master register located in the office of the director and 10 on the district register located in the office of the election supervisor. If the registration 11 is denied, the voter shall immediately be informed in writing that registration was 12 denied and the reason for denial. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 15.07.070(c) is amended to read: 14  (c) The names of persons submitting completed registration forms by mail that 15 are postmarked at least 30 days before the next election, or submitting completed 16 registration forms by facsimile or other electronic transmission approved by the 17 director under AS 15.07.050 that are received at least 30 days before the next 18 election, shall be placed on the official registration list for that election. If a 19 registration form received by mail less than 30 days before an election does not have 20 a legible and dated postmark, the name of the person submitting the form shall be 21 placed on the official registration list for that election if the form was signed and dated 22 by the person at least 30 days before the election and if the form is received by the 23 director or election supervisor at least 25 days before the election. The name of a 24 person submitting a completed registration form by mail or by facsimile or other 25 electronic transmission that does not meet the applicable requirements of this 26 subsection may not be placed on the official registration list for that election but shall 27 be placed on the master register after that election. 28 * Sec. 4. AS 15.07.070(f) is amended to read: 29  (f) Incomplete or inaccurate registration forms may not be accepted. A person 30 who submitted an incomplete or inaccurate registration form may register by 31 reexecuting and resubmitting a registration form in person, [OR] by mail, or by 01 facsimile or other electronic transmission approved by the director under 02 AS 15.07.050. The requirements of (c) or (d) of this section apply to a registration 03 form resubmitted under this subsection. 04 * Sec. 5. AS 15.10.110 is amended to read: 05  Sec. 15.10.110. APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION SUPERVISORS. The 06 director shall appoint election supervisors, including one in each of the municipalities 07 of Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Nome, to assist in the administration of elections 08 in the election districts designated by the director. The director may appoint as an 09 election supervisor a person who is a qualified voter in the area over which the person 10 has jurisdiction and who meets the applicable requirements of AS 15.10.105(b) 11 [DOES NOT HOLD AN OFFICE IN A POLITICAL PARTY]. An election supervisor 12 is entitled to receive compensation in an amount that is comparable to that received 13 for similar state employment as determined by the director. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 15.15.030(5) is amended to read: 15  (5) The state general election ballot shall be printed on white paper 16 with the names of the candidates and their party designations placed in separate 17 sections under the office designation to which they were nominated. The party 18 affiliation, if any, shall be designated after the name of the candidate. The lieutenant 19 governor and the governor shall be included under the same section. Provision shall 20 be made for voting for write-in and no-party candidates within each section. [THE 21 SQUARES APPEARING ON THE BALLOTS SHALL MEASURE 1/4 INCH ON 22 EACH SIDE.] 23 * Sec. 7. AS 15.15.140(a) is amended to read: 24  (a) If the election board receives an insufficient number of official [PAPER 25 BALLOTS, OFFICIAL PUNCH-CARD] ballots[,] or official election materials, it shall 26 provide and the voters may use unmarked substitute ballots or other election materials 27 to indicate the intent of the voter. 28 * Sec. 8. AS 15.15.215(a) is amended to read: 29  (a) A voter who casts a questioned ballot shall vote the ballot in the same 30 manner as prescribed for other voters.  The [AFTER THE ELECTION JUDGE 31 REMOVES THE NUMBERED STUB FROM THE BALLOT, THE] voter shall insert 01 the ballot into a secrecy sleeve, the election judge shall remove the numbered stub 02 from the ballot, and the voter shall [SMALL ENVELOPE AND] put the secrecy 03 sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] into an [A LARGER] envelope on which the statement 04 the voter previously signed is located.  The envelope [THESE LARGER 05 ENVELOPES] shall be sealed and deposited in the ballot box. When the ballot box 06 is opened, the [THESE] envelopes shall be segregated, counted, compared to the 07 voting list, and delivered to the official or body supervising the election. The merits 08 of the question shall be determined by this official or body in accordance with the 09 procedure prescribed for questioned votes in AS 15.20.207. 10 * Sec. 9. AS 15.15.440 is amended to read: 11  Sec. 15.15.440. DATES FOR OPENING AND CLOSING STATE BALLOT 12 COUNTING REVIEW. The state ballot counting review shall begin no earlier 13 [LATER] than 11 days after an [THE] election and no later than 16 days after an 14 election, and shall be continued [DAILY] until completed. The director may designate 15 the hours each day during which the state ballot counting review board is to conduct 16 its ballot counting review. The director shall close the review when the director is 17 satisfied that no missing precinct certificate of election would, if received, change the 18 result of the election. If no election certificate has been received from a precinct, the 19 director may secure from the election supervisors and may count a certified copy of 20 the duplicate election certificate of the precinct. If no election materials have been 21 received, but election results have been received by telephone, telegram or radio, the 22 director shall count the election results so received. If the director has reason to believe 23 that a missing precinct certificate, if received, would affect the result of the election, 24 the director shall await the receipt of the certificate until the close of business on the 25 15th day after the date of election. A certificate not actually delivered to the director 26 by the close of business on the 15th day after the election may not be counted at the 27 state ballot counting review. 28 * Sec. 10. AS 15.20.010 is repealed and reenacted to read: 29  Sec. 15.20.010. PERSONS WHO MAY VOTE ABSENTEE. At any election 30 a qualified voter may vote an absentee ballot for any reason. 31 * Sec. 11. AS 15.20.030 is amended to read: 01  Sec. 15.20.030. PREPARATION OF BALLOTS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER 02 MATERIAL. The director shall provide ballots for use as absentee ballots in all 03 districts. The director shall provide a secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] in which 04 the voter shall initially place the marked ballot, and shall provide an [A LARGER] 05 envelope[,] with the prescribed voter's certificate on it [THE BACK], in which the 06 secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] with ballot enclosed shall be placed. The 07 director shall prescribe the form of and prepare the voter's certificate, envelopes, and 08 other material used in absentee voting. The voter's certificate shall include an oath, for 09 use when required, that the voter is a qualified voter in all respects, a blank for the 10 voter's signature, a certification that the affiant properly executed the marking of the 11 ballot and gave the voter's identity, blanks for the attesting official or witnesses, and 12 a place for recording the date the envelope was sealed and witnessed. 13 * Sec. 12. AS 15.20.061(c) is amended to read: 14  (c) On receipt of an absentee ballot in person, the voter shall proceed to mark 15 the ballot in secret, to place the ballot in the secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE], 16 to place the secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] in the [LARGER] envelope 17 provided, and to sign the voter's certificate on the [BACK OF THE LARGER] 18 envelope in the presence of the election official who shall sign as attesting official and 19 date that signature. The election official shall then accept the ballot. 20 * Sec. 13. AS 15.20.071 is repealed and reenacted to read: 21  Sec. 15.20.071. ABSENTEE VOTING BY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE. 22 (a) A qualified voter with a disability who, because of that disability, is unable to go 23 to a polling place to vote may vote an absentee ballot through a personal 24 representative. 25  (b) A personal representative may apply in writing to the following election 26 officials, at the times specified, for an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter who is 27 eligible under (a) of this section: 28  (1) to an absentee voting official on or after the 15th day before an 29 election up to and including the day of the election; 30  (2) to an election supervisor 31  (A) after a date announced by the director under 01 AS 15.20.048(b); and 02  (B) on or after the 15th day before an election up to and 03 including the day of the election; 04  (3) to an absentee voting official at an absentee voting station 05 designated under AS 15.20.045(b) at a time when the absentee voting station is in 06 operation; 07  (4) to a member of a precinct election board on election day. 08  (c) The application by the personal representative shall be signed by the 09 personal representative and must include the following: 10  (1) the full name and full residence address of the personal 11 representative; 12  (2) the name and full residence address of the voter on whose behalf 13 the personal representative is applying for an absentee ballot; 14  (3) a form of identification for the personal representative that meets 15 the requirements for identification established by the director under AS 15.20.081(f) 16 for absentee voting by mail; and 17  (4) a statement signed by the personal representative that the voter for 18 whom the personal representative is applying for an absentee ballot will be unable to 19 go to the polling place because of a disability. 20  (d) Upon receipt of a written application from a personal representative that 21 meets the requirements of (c) of this section, the election official shall issue the 22 absentee ballot and other absentee voting material to the personal representative. 23  (e) The personal representative shall deliver the absentee ballot and other 24 absentee voting materials to the voter as soon as practicable. The voter shall proceed 25 to mark the ballot in secret, to place the ballot in the secrecy sleeve, and to place the 26 secrecy sleeve in the envelope provided. On the voter's certificate portion of the 27 envelope, the voter shall state the name of the personal representative who applied for 28 the absentee ballot, shall state that because of a disability the voter is unable to go to 29 a polling place to vote, and shall sign the voter's certificate in the presence of the 30 personal representative and provide a form of identification for the voter that meets the 31 requirements for identification established by the director under AS 15.20.081(f) for 01 absentee voting by mail. The personal representative shall witness and date the 02 signature of the voter. The voter shall mark the ballot, and complete and sign the 03 voter's certificate, not later than election day. The voter shall return the absentee ballot 04 to the personal representative who shall deliver the ballot to the election official who 05 provided the ballot. The absentee ballot must be returned to the election official not 06 later than 8:00 p.m. on election day. 07  (f) Notwithstanding (e) of this section, if a qualified voter's disability precludes 08 the voter from performing any of the requirements of (e) of this section, the personal 09 representative may perform those requirements on the voter's behalf. 10  (g) An election official shall keep a record of the name and signature of each 11 personal representative requesting an absentee ballot and the name of the voter on 12 whose behalf the ballot is requested. The election official shall record the date that 13 the absentee ballot is provided and the date that the ballot is returned to the election 14 official. 15  (h) The voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, or an officer or 16 agent of the voter's union may not act as a personal representative for that voter. 17 * Sec. 14. AS 15.20.081(d) is amended to read: 18  (d) Upon receipt of an absentee ballot by mail, the voter, in the presence of 19 a notary public, commissioned officer of the armed forces including the National 20 Guard, district judge or magistrate, United States postal official, registration official, 21 or other person qualified to administer oaths, may proceed to mark the ballot in secret, 22 to place the ballot in the secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE], to place the secrecy 23 sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] in the [LARGER] envelope provided, and to sign the 24 voter's certificate on the [BACK OF THE LARGER] envelope in the presence of an 25 official listed in this subsection who shall sign as attesting official and shall date the 26 signature. If none of the officials listed in this subsection is reasonably accessible, an 27 absentee voter shall sign the voter's certificate in the presence of two persons over the 28 age of 18 years, who shall sign as witnesses and attest to the date on which the voter 29 signed the certificate in their presence, and, in addition, the voter shall provide the 30 certification prescribed in AS 09.63.020. 31 * Sec. 15. AS 15.20.190(a) is amended to read: 01  (a) Thirty days before [PRIOR TO] the date of an election, the election 02 supervisors shall appoint, in the same manner provided for the appointment of election 03 judges prescribed in AS 15.10.150, district absentee ballot counting boards and district 04 questioned ballot counting boards, each composed of at least four members[, TWO 05 FROM EACH POLITICAL PARTY].  At least one member of each board must be 06 a member of the same political party of which the governor is a member, and at 07 least one member of each board must be a member of the political party whose 08 candidate for governor received the second largest number of votes in the 09 preceding gubernatorial election. The district boards shall assist the election 10 supervisors in counting the absentee and questioned ballots and shall receive the same 11 compensation paid election judges under AS 15.15.380. 12 * Sec. 16. AS 15.20.201(b) is amended to read: 13  (b) Counting of absentee ballots that [WHICH] have been reviewed shall 14 begin at 8:00 p.m., local time, on the day of the election at places designated by each 15 election supervisor and shall continue until all absentee ballots reviewed and eligible 16 for counting have been counted. The counting teams shall report the count of absentee 17 ballots to the district absentee ballot counting board. An election supervisor or an 18 election official may not count [REMOVE] absentee ballots [FROM THE SMALL, 19 INNER ENVELOPES] before 8:00 p.m., local time, on the day of the election. 20 Counting of the absentee ballots shall continue at times designated by the election 21 supervisor until all absentee ballots are counted. 22 * Sec. 17. AS 15.20.203(c) is amended to read: 23  (c) Any person present at the district absentee ballot counting review may 24 challenge the name of an absentee voter when read from the voter's certificate on the 25 [BACK OF THE LARGE] envelope if the person has good reason to suspect that the 26 challenged voter is not qualified to vote, is disqualified, or has voted at the same 27 election. The person making the challenge shall specify the basis of the challenge in 28 writing. The district absentee ballot counting board by majority vote may refuse to 29 accept and count the absentee ballot of a person properly challenged on grounds listed 30 in (b) of this section. 31 * Sec. 18. AS 15.20.203(e) is amended to read: 01  (e) If an absentee ballot is not rejected, the [LARGE] envelope shall be opened 02 and the secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] containing the absentee ballot shall be 03 placed in a container and mixed with other secrecy sleeves [SMALL ENVELOPES]. 04 * Sec. 19. AS 15.20.203(f) is amended to read: 05  (f) The secrecy sleeves [SMALL ENVELOPES] shall be drawn from the 06 container, the absentee ballots shall be removed from the secrecy sleeves 07 [OPENED], and the absentee ballots counted at the times specified in AS 15.20.201 08 and according to the rules for determining properly marked ballots in AS 15.15.360. 09 * Sec. 20. AS 15.20.207(c) is amended to read: 10  (c) Any person present at the district questioned ballot review may challenge 11 the name of a questioned voter when read from the voter's certificate on the [BACK 12 OF THE LARGE] envelope if the person has good reason to suspect that the 13 questioned voter is not qualified to vote, is disqualified, or has voted at the same 14 election. The person making the challenge shall specify the basis of the challenge in 15 writing. The district questioned ballot counting board by majority vote may refuse to 16 accept and count the questioned ballot of a person properly challenged under grounds 17 listed in (b) of this section. 18 * Sec. 21. AS 15.20.207(e) is amended to read: 19  (e) If a questioned ballot is not rejected, the [LARGE] envelope shall be 20 opened and the secrecy sleeve [SMALL ENVELOPE] containing the questioned ballot 21 shall be placed in a container and mixed with other secrecy sleeves [SMALL 22 ENVELOPES] containing questioned ballots. 23 * Sec. 22. AS 15.20.207(f) is amended to read: 24  (f) The secrecy sleeves [SMALL ENVELOPES] shall be drawn from the 25 container, the questioned ballots shall be removed from the secrecy sleeves 26 [OPENED], and the questioned ballots counted at the times specified in AS 15.20.205 27 and according to the rules for determining properly marked ballots in AS 15.15.360. 28 * Sec. 23. AS 15.20.207(g) is amended to read: 29  (g) Upon completion of the questioned ballot review, the election supervisor 30 shall prepare an election certificate for execution by the district questioned ballot 31 counting board, and shall forward the original certificate and returns to the director as 01 soon as the count is completed but no later than the eleventh [NINTH] day following 02 the election. 03 * Sec. 24. AS 15.20.620(c) is amended to read: 04  (c) As a security precaution, after the computer has been tested as prescribed 05 in (b)(2) and (4) of this section, 06  (1) the vote-counting task shall remain isolated from nonrelated 07 processing tasks; 08  (2) [PROCESSING NOT CONCERNED WITH VOTE COUNTING 09 SHALL BE LIMITED TO TASKS WHICH ARE CRITICAL TO THE COMPUTER 10 CENTER AND SHALL BE AGREED UPON IN ADVANCE BY THE MANAGER 11 OF THE COMPUTER CENTER AND THE DIRECTOR]; 12  (3) reasonable computer security controls shall be in effect to assure 13 the integrity of the vote-counting process; and 14  (4) access to the computer counting area shall be controlled by the data 15 processing review board until the vote-counting process is terminated. 16 * Sec. 25. AS 15.20.620(f) is amended to read: 17  (f) At any time during the count, party representatives or members of the data 18 processing review board may request a listing of the parameter coding that 19 [PROGRAM SOURCE CODE WHICH] comprises the instructions to be executed by 20 the computer. 21 * Sec. 26. AS 15.20.640(a) is amended to read: 22  (a) Immediately after the polls have closed, the ballot box shall be opened by 23 election board members in full view of all persons present, and all ballots shall be 24 removed [FROM THE BALLOT ENVELOPES]. 25 * Sec. 27. AS 15.20.700(c) is amended to read: 26  (c) The backup documentation for each counting session [BALLOT IMAGE 27 MAGNETIC TAPE WHICH CONTAINS AN EXACT IMAGE OF EACH COUNTED 28 BALLOT] shall be retained in a secure manner by the election supervisor until the 29 director determines that it is no longer needed. 30 * Sec. 28. AS 15.20.740 is amended to read: 31  Sec. 15.20.740. QUESTIONED PUNCH-CARD BALLOTS. The procedure 01 for reviewing and counting questioned punch-card ballots is the same procedure 02 established in AS 15.20.205 and 15.20.207 for hand-marked ballots except that 03 questioned punch-card ballots may be processed by the computer from the third 04 through the tenth [EIGHTH] day following the election. The data processing review 05 board shall supervise the count and shall follow the procedure established in AS 06 15.20.680 and 15.20.685. 07 * Sec. 29. AS 15.20.800(d) is amended to read: 08  (d) The voter may cast the ballot under AS 15.20.081(d) - (f) 09 [AS 15.20.081(d) - (e)]. 10 * Sec. 30. AS 15.58.060(a) is amended to read: 11  (a) Each general election candidate shall pay to the lieutenant governor at the 12 time of filing material under this chapter the following: 13  (1) President or Vice-President of the United States, United States 14 senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, supreme court 15 justice and court of appeals judge, $300 [$150] each; 16  (2) superior court judge and district court judge, $150 [$75] each; 17  (3) state senator and state representative, $100 [$50] each. 18 * Sec. 31. AS 15.58.060(b) is amended to read: 19  (b) The state chairman or executive committee of a political party shall pay 20 to the lieutenant governor at the time of filing material under this chapter $600 [$300] 21 for each page purchased. 22 * Sec. 32. AS 15.05.040 is repealed. 23 * Sec. 33. PILOT PROGRAM FOR VOTING BY MAIL IN PRIMARY AND GENERAL 24 ELECTIONS. (a) Notwithstanding AS 15.20.800(a), the director of elections may permit 25 voting by mail for the 1996 primary and general elections in not more than 10 precincts that 26 are located in a rural area of the state and that have no more than 200 registered voters. 27 Voting by mail under this section is subject to the provisions of AS 15.20.800(b) - (e). 28 (b) The director of elections may not open a polling place in a precinct in which the 29 director conducts an election by mail under this section. However, the director shall assure 30 that in each precinct in which the director conducts an election by mail under this section at 31 least one absentee voting official is appointed. Along with each ballot that is mailed to a 01 voter in a precinct under this section, the director shall include a notice giving the name of 02 the absentee voting officials for the precinct and explaining that the voter may go to an 03 absentee voting official for assistance in casting the ballot. 04 (c) Before implementing this section, the director of elections shall consult with the 05 officials of a municipality, village, Native village, or other government or tribal entity to 06 ascertain whether the municipality, village, Native village, or other government or tribal entity 07 is interested in participating in the pilot program authorized by this section. 08 (d) The director may adopt regulations to implement and interpret this section. 09 * Sec. 34. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).