Legislature(2025 - 2026)GRUENBERG 120
02/11/2025 03:15 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB21 | |
| HB43 | |
| HB4 | |
| HB63 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 21 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 43 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 63 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 4-PRESIDENTIAL WRITE-IN VOTES
4:36:34 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 4, "An Act relating to write-in candidates for
President and Vice-President of the United States."
4:36:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, introduced HB 4. He said that HB 4 is a
straightforward bill related to elections, with one simple aim,
to allow Alaska voters greater freedom to vote for the
candidates of their choice for the highest offices of
government. He said this would allow voters to vote by write-in
for their preferred candidates.
4:38:53 PM
DELORES NEAL, Staff, Representative Dan Saddler, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Saddler, prime sponsor,
read the sectional analysis [included in the committee file] for
HB 4, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Section 1 - Page 1, lines 4-14, through page 5, lines
1-4
Section 1 amends AS 15.15.030(7) to require that the
general election ballot offers voters the option to
write in candidates for president and vice president.
Section 2 - Page 5, lines 5-31 & page 6, lines 1-2
Section 2 amends AS 15.15.360(d)(3) to include write-
in votes for president and vice president under the
same rules for counting votes as write-ins for
governor and lieutenant governor.
Section 2 also adds a new subsection, AS
15.15.360(d)(5) which specifies the conditions that
must be met for the Division of Elections to count a
write-in vote. A vote shall be counted if the oval is
filled in and the names of the candidates for
president and vice president are written in the space
provided. At a minimum, voters must write the last
name of the candidate for president for their write-in
votes to count.
Section 3 - Page 6, Lines 3-6
Section 3 adds a new subsection (d) to AS 15.25.105
which states that a write-in candidate running for
president must file a letter with the director of the
Division of Elections certifying the information
required by the division under AS 15.30.026(b),
including the names of the candidate's electors for
the Electoral College, the name of his vice
presidential candidate running mate, the candidate's
Alaska mailing address, and a signature of the state
campaign chair.
4:40:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER added that there is a zero fiscal note
associated with the proposed bill.
4:40:15 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLLAND said he was curious to why this is the
way it is and asked if there were any mechanics involved with
the proposed bill and how it pertains to ranked choice voting.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER replied that in the supporting documents
[included in committee file] there was a sample ballot from the
most recent General Election, and it would need one more line
added for presidential candidates. He said it would not require
anything more than a single line addition. Additionally, he
asked Carol Beecher from the Division of Elections to provide
rationale for why the state currently does not allow write-ins.
4:41:55 PM
CAROL BEECHER, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, responded that the rationale behind not
including write-ins came into play in 2020. She said that
Alaska was not required by law to have write-ins for
presidential candidates and ranked choice voting impacted write-
ins. She explained the way that write-ins worked for ranked
choice voting. She said that if enough people voted for a
write-in candidate, then that would be considered a viable
selection for the election. Afterward the Division of Elections
would need to analyze the write-ins and analyze the information.
She explained the rationale for regulating the process. She
said that the statutes state that the ballots need to have
enough columns to allow for the rankings and certain things
needed to be included in the ballot.
4:44:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE said that she appreciated a clean-cut
election bill. She asked Ms. Beecher if she could speak about
the requirements for a write-in.
MS BEECHER responded that she did not have all the information
available and said she could follow up. She confirmed that many
people write in candidates who are not valid write-ins.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER added that his understanding of the
situation right now was that for a presidential write-in vote to
count, the candidate would have needed to be registered and
validated.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE clarified that what she was asking is
whether presidential candidates have the same write-in
requirements as other candidates for Alaska's elections.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER responded that this was correct and that
in a presidential election a person votes for the elector and no
other candidate needs to identify the elector.
4:47:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked how many states allow
presidential write-ins?
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER forwarded the question to Ms. Neal.
MS. NEAL responded that currently about 30 states allow this.
REPRESENTATIVE HIMSCHOOT asked whether Alaska has ever had
write-ins for presidential elections.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER forwarded the question to Ms. Beecher.
MS. BEECHER said that she did not know the answer and asked if
Mr. Flynn could answer this.
MR. FLYNN responded that yes, up until ranked choice voting,
write-ins for president were allowed.
4:48:55 PM
CHAIR CARRICK after ascertaining that there were no additional
questions announced that HB 4 was held over.