Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
04/27/2023 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB129 | |
| HB42 | |
| HB146 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 129 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 42 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 146 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 129-VOTER REGISTRATION
3:07:06 PM
CHAIR SHAW announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 129, "An Act relating to voter registration; and
providing for an effective date."
3:08:06 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
3:08:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY moved to adopt Amendment 1 to HB 129,
labeled 33-LS0668\A.1, Klein, 4/5/23, which read:
Page 2, line 8:
Delete "any"
Insert "a"
Following "kept.":
Insert "This subsection may not be construed to
authorize entry into a private residence in which
fireworks may be stored for personal use."
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON objected.
3:08:36 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY explained that Amendment 1 would move the
date that the director examines the master registration voter
list from January to April of each calendar year. In talking to
local election officials, she said, the Permanent Fund Dividends
(PFDs) applications are collected through March 31 of each year,
thereby providing the [Division of Elections (DOE)] with current
addresses for registrants. She pointed out that moving the date
to after the registration period would provide the most recent
addresses for individuals whose mail had been returned to the
division.
CHAIR SHAW invited the bill sponsor to comment on Amendment 1.
3:09:59 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SARAH VANCE, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf
of the House Judiciary Standing Committee, sponsor by request,
deferred to DOE.
CHAIR SHAW asked whether the objection was maintained.
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON asked whether the division was
available to answer questions.
3:10:19 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:10 p.m. to 3:12 p.m.
3:12:22 PM
CHAIR SHAW asked whether the objection was maintained.
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON said he was prepared to remove his
objection to Amendment 1 with the caveat that it would be
reviewed in the next committee of referral.
CHAIR SHAW objected.
3:12:56 PM
The committee took a brief at-ease.
3:13:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD expressed concern that moving the date to
April could interfere with municipal elections. She requested
clarification from DOE as to whether this would be the case.
3:14:25 PM
CAROL BEECHER, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the
Lieutenant Governor, asked Representative Allard to repeat the
question.
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD expressed concern that updating the voter
rolls in April could interfere with the Municipality of
Anchorage's local elections. She opined that doing it in
January would be more efficient.
CHAIR SHAW clarified that Amendment 1 proposed the replacement
of January [for examining the master register] with April of
each calendar year.
3:15:30 PM
MS. BEECHER expressed uncertainty concerning impact on municipal
elections, as the division does not run these elections.
Nonetheless, she confirmed that April was "close to the middle
of the work" conducted by DOE during an election year. She
added that inputting the PFD records is a manual process and
time consuming.
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked whether Amendment 1 would be
considered a friendly amendment.
CHAIR VANCE responded, per the comments from the director,
Amendment 1 may create additional hardship, which would not be
favorable towards the division's workload. For this reason, she
said Amendment 1 would not be considered "friendly" at this
time.
3:17:17 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY clarified that Amendment 1 is not related
to cleaning up the voter rolls. She explained that the proposed
amendment concerns individuals whose mail had been returned and
had not contacted the division in the two years preceding the
election or voted in the last few elections. She opined that
the PFD information could be valuable for the division to have
the most current addresses for this subset of people. She
withdrew Amendment 1.
3:18:22 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER moved to adopt Amendment 2 to HB 129,
labeled 33-LS0668\A.2, Klein, 4/11/23, which read:
Page 1, line 3, through page 2, line 1:
Delete all material and insert:
"* Section 1. AS 15.07.130(a) is amended to read:
(a) Periodically, at times of the director's
choosing, but not [NO] less frequently than in January
of each calendar year, the director shall examine the
master register maintained under AS 15.07.120 and
shall send, by nonforwardable mail to the voter's
registration mailing address, and to the voter's
electronic mail address, if available, a notice
requesting address confirmation or correction. The
notice must explain that the voter's registration will
be inactivated unless the voter responds to the notice
within 45 days after the date the notice is sent. The
director shall send the notice to each voter
(1) whose mail from the division has been
returned to the division in the two years immediately
preceding the examination of the register;
(2) who has not contacted the division in
the two years immediately preceding the examination of
the register and [; OR (3)] who has not voted or
appeared to vote in the two years [GENERAL ELECTIONS]
immediately preceding the examination of the register;
or
(3) who, after registering to vote in this
state and in the two years immediately preceding the
examination of the register, has
(A) registered to vote in another state;
(B) received a driver's license from
another state;
(C) registered a vehicle in another state;
(D) received public assistance in another
state;
(E) served on a jury in another state;
(F) obtained a resident hunting or fishing
license in another state; or
(G) moved to a different residence,
according to information from the United States Postal
Service national change of address program.
* Sec. 2. AS 15.07.130(b) is amended to read:
(b) If a registered voter does [HAS] not respond
to a notice sent under (a) of this section within 45
days after the date the notice is sent, the director
shall inactivate the voter's registration [, WITHIN
THE PRECEDING FOUR CALENDAR YEARS, CONTACTED THE
DIVISION AND HAS NEITHER VOTED NOR APPEARED TO VOTE IN
A LOCAL, REGIONAL SCHOOL BOARD, PRIMARY, SPECIAL, OR
GENERAL ELECTION DURING THE LAST FOUR CALENDAR YEARS
AND A NOTICE SENT TO THE VOTER UNDER (a) OF THIS
SECTION WAS RETURNED AS UNDELIVERABLE, THE VOTER SHALL
BE ADVISED BY A NOTICE SENT BY FORWARDABLE MAIL TO THE
VOTER'S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS THAT REGISTRATION WILL BE
INACTIVATED UNLESS THE VOTER RESPONDS TO THE NOTICE NO
LATER THAN 45 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE SENT
UNDER THIS SECTION]. The director shall maintain on
the master register the name of a voter whose
registration is inactivated. The director shall cancel
a voter's inactive registration in accordance with the
procedures set out in 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6 (sec. 8,
National Voter Registration Act of 1993) after the
second general election that occurs after the
registration becomes inactive if the voter does not
contact the division or vote or appear to vote.
* Sec. 3. AS 15.07.130(d) is amended to read:
(d) The notice sent under (a) [(b)] of this
section must include a postage prepaid and pre-
addressed return card on which the voter may state the
voter's current address. The notice must indicate
(1) that the voter should return the card
not later than 45 days after the date of the notice if
the voter did not change residence;
(2) that failure to return the card by the
45-day deadline could result in removal of the voter's
name from the official registration list for a
subsequent election;
(3) that the voter's registration will be
cancelled if the voter does not contact the division
during, or vote or appear to vote in an election held
during, the period beginning on the date of the notice
and ending on the day after the last day of the fourth
calendar year that occurs after the date of notice;
and
(4) how the voter can continue to be
eligible to vote if the voter has changed residence."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON objected for the purpose of
discussion.
3:18:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE pointed out that various markers would
indicate whether a person is taking up residence outside of
Alaska. Amendment 2, she said, lists these markers, thereby
sending a message to DOE when a person does not have an intent
to return to the state. The pertinent markers are as follows:
registered to vote in another state; received a driver's license
from another state; registered a vehicle in another state;
received public assistance in another state; served on a jury
duty in another state; obtained a resident hunting or fishing
license in another state; and moved to a different residence,
according to the United State Postal Service national change of
address program. She continued that the proposed amendment also
outlines a method for [contact], which includes a notice sent by
the division that requires a response within 45 days. Failure
to do so would result in removal from the active voter roll
list. She noted that the amendment would allow for an
electronic response, as opposed to responding to the notice by
mail.
3:20:57 PM
JAKE ALMEIDA, Staff, Representative Sarah Vance, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of the House Judiciary Standing
Committee, sponsor by request, clarified that subparagraphs (A)-
(G) in Section 1 would not automatically take someone off the
voter rolls.
3:21:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ARMSTRONG asked where the 45-day timeframe came
from.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE opined that 45 days was a reasonable amount
of time to respond.
REPRESENTATIVE ARMSTRONG pointed out that many Alaskans split
the year between Alaska and other places. She expressed concern
that [45 days] was not enough time.
3:22:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY stated similar concerns about the 45 days,
particularly for rural Alaska where mail moves slower. She
asked Ms. Beecher's opinion of the 45-day timeline.
MS. BEECHER shared her understanding that the "non-forwardable"
component could be problematic according to the national Voting
Rights Act. Additionally, she was unsure how the division would
receive the information listed in subparagraphs (C)-(F) of
Amendment 1.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY sought to confirm that the word
"nonforwardable" on page 1, line 6 was problematic.
MS. BEECHER confirmed that the Voting Rights Act requires voter
notices be forwardable to allow for an opportunity to respond.
3:24:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD asked how information was received from
PFD registrants.
MS. BEECHER said the division receives a list of names on a
regular basis.
3:25:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARPENTER pointed out that the "nonforwardable"
language is already in statute, adding that Amendment 1 would
not change this. He questioned whether this process was already
in place because of the federal requirement.
MS. BEECHER offered to follow up with the requested information.
3:26:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON removed his objection.
3:26:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY objected.
3:26:49 PM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Carpenter, C.
Johnson, Allard, Wright, and Shaw voted in favor of Amendment 2.
Representatives Story and Armstrong voted against it.
Therefore, Amendment 2 to HB 129 was adopted by a vote of 5-2.
3:27:30 PM
CHAIR SHAW invited closing comments from members of the
committee on HB 129, as amended.
REPRESENTATIVE ALLARD thanked the sponsor for bringing the
legislation forward.
3:27:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT moved to report HB 129, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes.
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE commented on Representative Story's concern
about the timing of the division's receipt of information from
the Permanent Fund Dividend Division and the examination of the
master register. She explained that after the Permanent Fund
Dividend Division collects the information from dividend
registrants, the raw list of data would be sent to DOE; however,
she suggested that some PFD applicants would be ineligible. For
this reason, she said she has suggested that the Permanent Fund
Dividend Division send a second batch of "cleaned up" data. She
indicated that the process is not a one-time event, adding that
the division has been looking to receive more thorough
information. Regarding Ms. Beecher's concern about Amendment 2,
she shared her understanding that the Electronic Registration
Information Center (ERIC) system offers much of the information
listed in subparagraphs (C)-(F). She further stated that the
proposed bill would require the use of government sources of
information to find relevant information on voters, and this
would ensure that every eligible voter is, indeed, an Alaskan.
3:30:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE C. JOHNSON objected to the motion to report HB
129, as amended, out of committee.
3:30:53 PM
A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Wright, Carpenter,
C. Johnson, Allard, Armstrong, and Shaw voted in favor of moving
HB 129, as amended, out of committee. Representative Story
voted against it. Therefore, CSHB 129(STA) was reported out of
the House State Affairs Standing Committee by a vote of 6-1.
3:31:38 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:31 p.m. to 3:36 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 42 - Fiscal Note - OMB - Statement of Zero Fiscal Impact.pdf |
HSTA 4/27/2023 3:00:00 PM |
HB 42 |
| HB 42 - Section 22 Report Details.pdf |
HSTA 4/27/2023 3:00:00 PM |
HB 42 |
| HB 42 - Supporting Documents - Agency Publications Elimination or Change Recommendation List 2022.pdf |
HSTA 4/27/2023 3:00:00 PM |
HB 42 |
| HB 146 Fiscal Note - DPS - 0.0.pdf |
HSTA 4/27/2023 3:00:00 PM |
HB 146 |
| HB 42 Sectional Analysis on Letterhead.pdf |
HSTA 4/27/2023 3:00:00 PM |
HB 42 |