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 63-SCHOOL & ELECTION BDS; VOTING; ELECTIONS
4:49:24 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 63, "An Act relating to regional educational
attendance area elections; relating to terms for members of
regional school boards; relating to voter residence; relating to
voter registration; relating to the inclusion of voter
registration forms in permanent fund dividend applications;
relating to election administration; relating to ballot
counting; relating to absentee voting; relating to early voting;
relating to voting by mail; relating to publication of election
pamphlets; and relating to confidential information in voter
registration records."
4:49:44 PM
CAROL BEECHER, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, presented HB 63 on behalf of the bill
sponsor, House Rules by request of the governor. She said that
HB 63 is the result of feedback that was received from the last
election cycles. She said there are a multitude of provisions
within the bill, some new ideas and some older ideas. She said
that many of these provisions are house-cleaning attempts to
help make operations for the Division of Elections more
efficient. This includes shortening time to complete ballots
and improving the election process. She stated that the
Division of Elections' mission is to ensure public confidence in
the electoral process by administering voter registration and
elections with the highest level of professional standards. She
said that the division takes this mission "very seriously" and
everything is done in the division to ensure the promises in
this mission. She said this bill follows this mission.
MS. BEECHER said that one of the provisions in the proposed bill
is a change to the Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA)
elections. She said that currently these elections are held
every year, and they are held in October. On an election year
when there is both a Primary and General Election, REAAs are in
the middle of both elections. She explained that the process of
REAA elections is the same as any other election and it is "very
challenging" for the Division of Elections to accommodate all
these elections. She said the rationale is that if the REAA
elections are moved to the odd years then it would eliminate
these elections being in the middle of both primary and general
elections. She said these would ease the burden on the Division
of Elections and save money. She said this shift would require
changing the terms of office for the current board members from
1- and 3-year terms to 4-year terms. She said that there are 19
REAA's and these are in unorganized boroughs and for the most
part Region 4. She said that multiple seats are elected each
year, and they have the same challenges as other elections. She
said that the Division of Elections had reached out to all the
superintendents and had not heard back from them all and thus
far the feedback has been a "mixed bag" regarding their feeling
of the bill's proposed changes.
4:53:05 PM
MS. BEECHER said that the residency of voters is a continuing
issue for the division and the public at large for understanding
what constitutes residency. She said the division is aware of
the concerns regarding the current voter list and the
discrepancies associated with it. She said that one of the
things that makes the voter list larger than it should be is the
intent to return language that is currently in statute. She
said HB 63 would remove the intent to return language and the
intent is to reduce confusion about it and provide clarity on
what constitutes residency. She said it may not be a perfect
solution but an attempt to come to a concise definition of
residency.
MS. BEECHER said that another provision of the bill would remove
the permanent fund dividend automatic voter registration
(PFDAVR). She explained that when individuals register for the
PFD, they are automatically registered to vote. If they are a
new person to register or if their address has changed, then a
notice would be sent out regarding re-registration. She said
that in 2024, less than one-third of those added to the voter
list voted. Out of the 9,056 that were added, only 2,600 voted.
She said that it is an expensive program because mailing the
notices costs more than $218,000. She said even though it is
called an "automatic voter registration," it was not actually
automatic. She said that one component of PFDAVR is that the
division adds to the list of inactive voters and that just
applying for a PFD is an act of "appearing to vote." She said
it causes a continuation of active voting status. She
demonstrated a chart to committee members that the division
mailed out 76,550 notices and of those 7,984 opted out. Of
those new voters who were registered, there were 9,000 but only
2,639 of them actually voted.
4:57:14 PM
MS. BEECHER said that another component of the bill is voter
list maintenance. She said that the bill seeks to remove the
second notice of the two that are sent out. She said this
happens annually around January. She explained that the first
notice is non-forwardable and if it comes back to the Division
of Elections, then, as required by statute, a forwardable notice
is sent. She said that removing the requirement of the second
notice would reduce some time and work for the division. She
said that the proposed bill also adds two additional conditions
for the notices. The first would add that those who become
ineligible to receive a PFD would receive a notice. Second is
if someone receives a driver's license in another state then it
would trigger another notice to be sent. This would allow time
to remove inactive voters from the registration list.
MS. BEECHER added that early voting was quite different from
absentee in-person voting and both start 15 days before the
election. She said that when there is a proposal to move these
dates back, that means that other concurrent processes also need
to be moved back due to timeframes pertaining to registering to
vote, candidacy, and ballot printing. She explained the
concurrent events that take place "behind the scenes" prior to
sending out ballots. She said that early voting requires direct
voter registration system access and explained the process. She
said this does not happen with in-person absentee voting. She
said the voter information is updated in real-time unlike the
in-person absentee voting.
5:00:08 PM
MS. BEECHER said that only the early voting time would be
reduced and not other ballot types. It would only reduce it for
those few days when the registers for the polling places had
already been printed and there was a potential for fraud. She
explained that one of the methods to try to prevent this was
that these votes are sequestered and go into an envelope until
voter history is completed. She said eliminating the early
voting for these few days would reduce early voting times but
also reduce the potential for fraud and double voting. It would
also provide faster results for elections.
5:01:05 PM
MS. BEECHER said that another provision of the bill is absentee
votes would be required to be received by election day. She
said that the division heard complaints regarding how long it
took for Alaska ballots to be counted. She asked why all these
ballots are coming in after the election, why it is happening
and where they are coming from. She said that by statute,
during the Primary Election, ballots must be received by the
tenth day after election. She said this means the division
isn't done receiving ballots until 10 days after the election.
She said overseas ballots can be received 15 days after an
election. She said this bill would remove the requirement to
receive the ballots on election day and shorten the time
required to process ballots.
MS. BEECHER said the by-mail voting option in communities of 750
members or less is also a component of the bill. She said that
the Division of Elections is looking for ideas and options for
expanding voting options and it would not be a mandate. She
said this would assist communities that have stated that they
will not provide poll workers. She said the division can't
afford to wait until election day to know whether poll workers
will be available. She said this option will cover these
contingencies. She said currently by statute; the division
cannot carry out this process. She said that the division wants
to leave options open for in-person voting but has alternative
options available.
MS. BEECHER proceeded to comment on official election pamphlets.
She explained that the division spends a lot of money and time
mailing official election pamphlets and often hears back to how
many are piled up in the post office and being shredded. She
said that pamphlets are not cheap to produce. Most cost over $2
each and rural area pamphlets are more than $5 dollars. She
said looking at the cost, time, and expense of printing them,
the bill proposes the division to continue to produce them but
only make them available online. This change would save more
than $844,000.
5:04:55 PM
MS. BEECHER commented that many voting booths are in a state of
disrepair. She said that the Division of Elections is mandated
by statute to have voting booths of a specific size and
dimension. She said this type of voting booth is not being made
anymore. The division put out a request for information (RFI)
to determine if anyone could make these and at what cost but was
unsuccessful. She said eliminating the restrictions would allow
the division to purchase booths [outside the standard
dimensions] to replace the old ones.
MS. BEECHER said that currently compensation for election board
members needs to be by regulation. She stated that it puts the
division behind, and boroughs were able to pay workers
considerably more and it is challenging to deal with payments
for board members.
MS. BEECHER mentioned that postage-paid return envelopes are
needed as well. She also said that the Division does not want
to reject special needs ballots when the error is from the
representative. The proposed bill would eliminate this. She
discussed the requirements and said the bill would allow greater
flexibility for delivering and receiving election material.
5:07:45 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE commented that she heard the word democracy
repeatedly. She expressed thanks for the opportunity to make
comments and said voter engagement is important. She clarified
that the United States is a constitutional republic and not a
pure democracy.
5:08:31 PM
CHAIR CARRICK announced that HB 63 was held over.