Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
01/26/2016 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB243 | |
| SB9 | |
| HB217 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 243 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 217 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 9-ELECTION PAMPHLETS
9:04:59 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the next order of business was SENATE
BILL NO. 9, "An Act repealing the authority to include certain
material from a political party in the election pamphlet."
9:05:23 AM
SENATOR PETE MICCICHE, Alaska State Legislature, as prime
sponsor, introduced SB 9. He described an experience when he
walked into his voting precinct and noticed an election pamphlet
open to an advertisement ("ad"). He said even though the ad was
promoting a person he supported, he was "offended by the content
of the ad." He stated, "When you walk into ... the polling
place with a state-sponsored brochure, you should not be guilty
of electioneering; you simply couldn't have it open to that page
and be in a polling place."
SENATOR MICCICHE explained that the reason for SB 9 was to
remove [political party advertising] from publicly funded
election pamphlets. He stated his belief that the intent of the
pamphlet is to serve as a source of free, unbiased, in-depth
information about current officials, candidates, initiatives,
judges, and legislation. The revenue generated to the State of
Alaska from advertisements equals less than one percent of the
cost of producing and mailing the document; therefore, [doing
away with the advertisements] would not be a financial issue for
the State of Alaska. He said during every election cycle,
people are bombarded with political mailings, flyers, and radio
and television ads, and he thinks the act of voting is "almost a
sacred right in our country," and it should be "pure of
political advertising in the polling place."
SENATOR MICCICHE said the other issue addressed under an
available committee substitute for SB 9 is to improve access to
and integrity of the State of Alaska voter registration database
in order to prevent voter fraud. He indicated that those
legislators who work their districts see how inaccurate the
state's voting rolls are. An amendment to the bill would enable
the Division of Elections to identify voters who have moved to
another address, moved to other states, died, or have duplicate
registrations within Alaska's database. Additionally, persons
in Alaska who are not yet registered to vote could be identified
and provided the information on how to register. He related
that current and past administrations have commented on the need
for a more accurate voter registration list. Each year the
division processes tens of thousands of questioned ballots on
Election Day, which he said is a sure sign of the decline in the
accuracy of the state's voter database. He stated that an
accurate voter list is the bedrock of a smooth election. He
deferred to his staff for further comment, and he noted that
included in the committee packet was a letter from a past
lieutenant governor - the manager of elections for the state.
He further indicated that the current lieutenant governor
supports [SB 9].
9:08:54 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked for a description of the changes that would be
made under the aforementioned committee substitute.
9:09:21 AM
CHUCK KOPP, Staff, Senator Peter Micciche, Alaska State
Legislature, discussed the committee substitute to SB 9 on
behalf of Senator Micciche, prime sponsor. He echoed the prime
sponsor's statement that the proposed legislation would "improve
access and database veracity to prevent voter fraud." He said
this issue was brought to the attention of Senator Micciche's
office during the last interim, and one solution would be to
allow member states to partner with Alaska under a confidential
services agreement to share information and verify each other's
voter registration base, which he indicated would save thousands
of dollars.
MR. KOPP, in response to Chair Lynn, clarified that "that was
the foundation for the CS that's before you today." He said the
CS would amend AS 15.57.055(e), which [would] permit the
Division of Elections to match identified information for any
voter with information held by the Division of Motor Vehicles
and the Department of Revenue's Permanent Fund Division. Mr.
Kopp said the second thing that the CS would do is add an
exception to the list of exceptions currently under statute that
relate to the release of confidential information. That
exception would allow the division to share [information] with
an organized group of states for the purpose of ensuring that
the voter registration list comprises persons eligible to vote
in elections. The sharing of information would take place
through a non-profit entity known as Electronic Registration
Information Center (ERIC), which would act as a facilitator of
the information exchange. He said there are now just over 20
states partnering with Alaska in this endeavor. He noted that
David Becker was available to speak to the founding effort to
have states partner in this type of information sharing,
initially funded by Pew Charitable Trust. He echoed that there
was a letter of support from [former] Lieutenant Governor Mead
Treadwell. Last, he noted that the chief executive officer of
ERIC was available via teleconference.
9:12:36 AM
CHAIR LYNN said he would entertain a motion to adopt the
aforementioned committee substitute, labeled 29-LS0244\W,
Bullard, 12/9/15, as a work draft.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER noted that as the only committee of
referral, the onus was on the House State Affairs Standing
Committee to get the proposed legislation "right." He asked Mr.
Kopp if Mr. Treadwell had expressed support for the original
bill version or Version W.
MR. KOPP said the sponsor's office gave Mr. Treadwell Version W,
and all supporting documents, and "he drafted his letter based
on what he saw we were doing."
9:13:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for SB 9, Version 29-LS0244\W, Bullard, 12/9/15,
as a work draft.
9:13:43 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for the purpose of discussion.
He directed attention to the word "state", on page 2, lines 19
and 22, of Version W, and he asked if it is defined or "do you
look to the general definition in Title 1?" He explained that
in some instances, the word "state" includes places such as
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia, and he said
those places should be included under the proposed legislation,
but may not be included under the term "state" normally. He
indicated that he wanted the intent to be clear in terms of who
would be included.
MR. KOPP indicated that "state" referred to "a unit of
government within the United States." He said he did not know
if that would include those territories, but suggested the
question could be answered by a representative from the
Department of Law.
9:14:55 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG removed his objection to the motion to
adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for SB 9, Version
29-LS0244\W, Bullard, 12/9/15, as a work draft. There being no
further objection, Version W was before the committee.
9:15:07 AM
CHAIR LYNN indicated he had seen the same election pamphlet,
which Senator Micciche had described, and he was offended by
what he saw in it. He indicated he had sponsored a similar
bill. He said the pamphlet is a place for candidates to
describe their position on various subjects, but not to attack
another candidate. He said in the aforementioned pamphlet, it
was his own party that made a vicious attack, and he did not
think it was appropriate to do so, because a person reading the
pamphlet does not "vote for or against a party." He said he
could foresee [attacks] escalating if nothing is done about
them.
9:16:44 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS offered his support for the bill,
which he opined could elevate the level of civic discourse. He
said he thinks [Version W] represents common sense and
positivity, and he characterized it as being tailored in nature,
specifically on page 2, lines 19-20, where it read, "for the
purpose of ensuring the accuracy of the state's voter
registration list". Regarding the ERIC project, he asked if it
is anticipated that there could be cooperation between all 50
states' voter rolls. He said he has been told that some states
manage the voter rolls on a county-by-county basis and, because
of the way they store their data, may never be able to join
ERIC. He explained that he would like to know how integrated
all 50 states could become with the project.
9:18:19 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE said he would encourage all 50 states to
convert their manner of record-keeping so that it fits in a
nationwide database. He said there are so many other benefits
that would be attached to that, from fishing and hunting
licenses to voter rights. He deferred to Mr. Kopp for further
information.
9:18:47 AM
MR. KOPP explained that the 20 states that have partnered with
ERIC have found that all the information they send to the non-
profit group is anonymized; it is encrypted and cross-checked by
20 states to determine if there are any duplicate registrations.
He said, "It is through this process that the information is
shared perfectly." He said representatives from ERIC are
available to explain the security protocol and how the states
maintain complete ownership and control of their information.
He said although each state's data may look a little different
as far as what they are pushing into the system, ERIC looks for
as many common variables as possible on the voter registration
list.
9:19:58 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he shudders whenever national
databases are discussed. He directed attention to language in
Version W, on page 2, [lines 21-22], which read, "if the other
state or organized group of states agrees to protect the
confidentiality of the information." He said the meaning of
that could be "quite nuanced and conflicted." He said he
understands from language on [page 2], line 8, that the state
"may" release the confidential information. He asked if the
bill sponsor had considered including language in the proposed
legislation that would give Alaska the jurisdiction to set a
standard for the confidentiality requirements that would be
required before the state would release the information.
MR. KOPP deferred to the representatives from ERIC to speak
further to the question, but offered his understanding that the
states would sign a common agreement, thus the expectation would
be the same for all member states.
9:21:51 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER expressed concern that "we're giving away
any of our responsibility ongoing here to be watching this." He
said it is fine if everyone involved with ERIC agrees, but the
permissive language in statute would put this outside of
legislative reach.
SENATOR MICCICHE suggested that the committee hear from [Mr.
Becker].
9:22:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG noted he does not find a definition of
"state" in Title 15; therefore, he said he thinks the committee
would look to the definition of "state" in Title 1, which is in
AS 01.10.060(a)(13), which read as follows:
(13) "state" means the State of Alaska unless
applied to the different parts of the United States
and in the latter case it includes the District of
Columbia and the territories;
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG questioned whether Puerto Rico would be
considered a territory or a commonwealth, because he indicated
it should be included. In response to Chair Lynn, he said Guam
and the Virgin Islands are territories.
9:24:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG next noted that under the original
bill, [AS 15.58.020(a)(8), 15.58.040, and 15.58.060(b)] would be
repealed. He noted that a [two-page handout] in the committee
packet shows the language in those statutes that would be
repealed. He said he gathers from previous comments that "one
of the parties in the last election pamphlet did an attack ad on
somebody or something." Referring to the handout again, he
noted that the language that would be repealed from AS
15.58.020, pertaining to the contents of a pamphlet, would be "a
maximum of two pages of material submitted by each political
party;". Furthermore, the language that would be repealed [from
AS 15.58.040], he noted, included that "a political party may
file [with the lieutenant governor] a maximum of two pages of
material", as well as language regarding a requirement to have a
disclaimer about who paid for the ad. He offered his
understanding that these statutes have been in existence for
quite a while, and he questioned whether it would be beneficial
and constitutional to allow parties to have material in the
election pamphlet, but to disallow attack ads. He said he did
not know if the political parties "would like to be able to do
this," and he said it sounds like "everybody's been acting
honorably until this one thing came about."
9:26:00 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE responded, "I suppose we could complicate the
issue." He said he does not understand why "a political party
has a place with candidates and specific issues in our election
pamphlet." He said he respectfully disagrees with
Representative Gruenberg.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said he was just raising the question,
but said it sounds like the bill sponsor feels that parties do
not have a place in the pamphlet.
9:26:37 AM
CHAIR LYNN voiced that everything in an election pamphlet
relates to voting for people or initiatives. He reiterated that
people do not vote for a political party; therefore, he
questioned why [political parties] would be in the pamphlet in
the first place.
SENATOR MICCICHE explained that [the aforementioned handout
showing the repealed statutory language] shows "the elimination
of all the aspects of the statutes that refer to parties in the
brochure." He said he is not a particularly partisan
individual, and he speculated that perhaps when the
aforementioned ad came out in the pamphlet, opposing parties may
have wished they had thought of placing such an ad. He stated,
"It's just a matter of time before it turns into a party war in
the brochure, and I'm just trying to be preemptive in
eliminating that potential."
CHAIR LYNN said it is difficult to "draw the line." He said he
has always placed a statement in the election pamphlet when
running for office, but knows he cannot place an attack ad; the
ad must be about him and not about his opponent. He said, "This
was over the line, I think. ... The easiest way to do it is
just to take it out until you finally define what's appropriate
and what's not appropriate."
9:29:02 AM
DAVID BECKER, Pew Charitable Trust, stated that he leads the Pew
Charitable Trust election team in the field to improve the
efficiency, cost-effectiveness, accuracy, integrity, and
convenience of elections in the U.S. He noted that he had
submitted written testimony [included in the committee packet].
He stated support of the effort to improve Alaska's voter
registration rolls by allowing Alaska to join a cross-state
consortium like ERIC. He said the team has been working for
about a decade and speaks to election officials across the
political spectrum and country about the problems and challenges
in the field of elections. He said problem with voter rolls is
a repeated issue that all states are addressing. He explained
that voter rolls are difficult to keep up with, primarily
because of mobility: people in America move a lot and election
officials cannot keep up with that information. The Pew
Charitable Trust built ERIC, which is a 501(c)(3) membership
organization.
MR. BECKER specified that Pew Charitable Trust does not own or
control the organization; it hands it off immediately to the
states that choose to join ERIC. Those states that participate
in ERIC govern it, pay for it, and maintain it in every way.
Employees exist to support the board of directors made up of the
states that have joined ERIC. He said ERIC is a sophisticated
data center run off software provided by International Business
Machines Corporation (IBM), which allows the 15 states and the
District of Columbia that currently participate to obtain better
information on whether voter information is out of date because
someone has moved or died. He noted that red states and blue
states all over the country participate, including states close
to Alaska, such as Washington and Oregon.
MR. BECKER said when a state participates, ERIC sends reports to
the state to let it know if there is information in its file
that indicates that a voter has newer information somewhere
else. In other words, a voter may have obtained a driver
license in another state or died or submitted a change of
address with the United State Postal Service (USPS). The state
can then begin the process consistent with federal and state law
to update its record. Mr. Becker relayed that to date, ERIC has
helped participating states identify about three million voters
"who moved from the address in their official voter file," as
well as helped states identify 140,000 voters who had died since
last voting.
MR. BECKER said it is important to note that although there is a
small fee to participate in ERIC, the program saves states more
than the amount of the fee, because they no longer have to pay
for inefficient list maintenance, and there is a reduction in
returned mail and questioned ballots, because ERIC provides
better addresses. He said it is the goal of Pew Charitable
Trust that all states eventually join ERIC; the organization has
brought on about a third of the states in its three and a half
years. Under the Help America Vote Act, all states have been
required since 2005 to have a statewide voter registration
database. He said there is no state that could not join if it
chose to do so today, and he expects more states to join in
advance of the 2016 Election, and after that the team will
continue to work to "document ERIC's benefits and encourage
states to join."
9:33:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TALERICO stated his support for the effort being
made and for [Version W].
9:33:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER asked if the decision as to whether Alaska
would join ERIC would be an administrative one made by the
Division of Elections.
MR. BECKER replied that he is not an expert on Alaska's law, so
he does not know whether legislation would be required in order
for Alaska to join ERIC. He relayed that of the many states
with which the team is working to encourage membership, some
would require legislation while others would not.
9:34:51 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE offered his understanding that legislation is
necessary in order to share voter data with other states [via
ERIC].
9:35:36 AM
JOHN LINDBACK, Executive Director, Electronic Registration
Information Center (ERIC), offered a status report on ERIC. He
listed the following states that are currently members:
Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois,
Louisiana, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. He explained
that when states submit their data and ERIC reports back to
those states, it enables the member states to act on the
information in accordance with federal and state laws. Members
of ERIC reach out to voters that have moved out of state to
request that they update their voter registrations or provide
permissions to cancel their registrations in their former
states. He said acting on that data also protects states from
"opportunities for voter fraud." Additionally, members reach
out to the unregistered with information on how to register.
MR. LINDBACK stated that based on the experience of other
states, an ERIC projection anticipates about 38,000 voters that
have moved within Alaska and have failed to update their
registrations; about 8,200 voters that have moved out of Alaska,
but still have their voter registrations on the Alaska rolls;
about 1,500 deceased voters still on the Alaska voter
registration list; about 900 individuals with duplicate
registrations on the Alaska voter registration list; and about
195,000 Alaskans who are not yet registered to vote.
MR. LINDBACK stated that the benefits to Alaska in having a
membership to ERIC are potentially huge and could result in
considerable cost savings. One example: In the 2014 state
election, Alaska issued almost 28,000 questioned ballots, which
extends the count well after Election Day. The vast majority of
those ballots cannot be counted in full. He said the processing
for questioned ballots takes days, and close races "are held in
suspense for unreasonable lengths of time." He said a more
accurate voter list means that substantial numbers of those
voters would cast a ballot on Election Day, because they would
be updating their registration sooner rather than later. He
said the processing time following the election for dealing with
questioned ballots would be substantially reduced. He
concluded, "I just wanted to provide that as ... one example of
the benefit of joining ERIC."
9:39:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he would assume that ERIC would carry
the liability for any security breach of its system.
MR. LINDBACK answered yes; the ERIC membership agreement
includes provisions such that if ERIC is at fault or responsible
for a breach in its system, it will indemnify the members for
any costs associated with that breach.
9:40:30 AM
JOANNE BLACKBURN stated her belief in the constitutional right
of economic association, and she appreciates to power that is in
Alaska's economy as a relatively new state. She said, "I
dislike participating in organizations that are against
everything I believe in, and it's antithetical to all that I
believe in to place my personal information in an organization
such as ERIC." She explained that she distrusts "mega data" and
does not appreciate "individuals from different parts of the
state that intend to coopt my thinking so as to cause my
information to be available to the 1 percenters - to strangers
to me." She said she does not think that is good public policy,
and she stated that she would appreciate the committee's taking
into consideration "that there are opposite views."
MS. BLACKBURN said she recognizes that Alaska's Division [of
Elections] does a good job and takes pride in the work done; the
division watches for obituaries "and that sort of thing." She
opined that "this is not a huge problem in Alaska," with half
the state's population living in Anchorage. She reiterated the
positive view of the method by which [election rolls] are
currently kept in Alaska. She opined that "this" is extremist,
and she does not appreciate fees being given to organizations
that stand for things in which she, herself, does not believe.
She reemphasized her opposition to contributing to "mega data"
against her expressed will. She offered her understanding that
there are many who share a similar viewpoint to her own and
surmised that they may be at work currently [and not able to
testify]. She stated that she would appreciate if the committee
"would put this on the back burner."
9:43:40 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 29-
LS0244\W.1, Bullard, 1/26/16, which read:
Page 2, following line 23:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 3. AS 28.15.151(f) is amended to read:
(f) Except as provided otherwise in this section
and in AS 15.07.195, information and records under
this section are declared confidential and private."
Renumber the following bill section accordingly.
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG objected for the purpose of discussion.
9:44:03 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER noted that he moved Amendment 1 at the
request of the sponsor; therefore, he deferred to the sponsor's
staff to elaborate upon the proposed amendment.
9:44:08 AM
MR. KOPP suggested that the Department of Law was present to
address Amendment 1.
9:44:46 AM
LIBBY BAKALAR, Assistant Attorney General, Labor and State
Affairs Section, Civil Division (Juneau), Department of Law
(DOL), stated that the proposed Amendment 1 is a cross reference
to the [Division] of Motor Vehicle's (DMV's) data, which is
required to be shared, via elections. She said the reason Mr.
Decker and Mr. Lindback mentioned that other states require
legislation for this project is because ERIC is organized as a
501(c)(3), and there is not currently existing statutory
authority for [Alaska] to participate in a 501(c)(3) "without
this cross reference." She stated that one of the things ERIC
requires is DMV data via the Division of Elections, and
Amendment 1 would tweak Title 28 to make explicitly clear that
[the State of Alaska] has the authority to share the data that
the Division of Elections gets from DMV with participating
states under the ERIC project.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER directed attention to the phrase "declared
confidential and private" in the proposed Amendment 1, and he
asked who would make that declaration.
MS. BAKALAR answered DMV, within the Department of
Administration.
9:47:00 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said his concern within the bill itself is
that the qualifier is whether the other state agrees to keep the
information confidential. He asked, "Is that the intent here?
Because I see this as leading the legislature completely out of
it, as far as setting the standard for the confidentiality. You
know, in other words it just presumes that it's going to
happen." He indicated that this makes him nervous.
MS. BAKALAR deferred to Mr. Lindback or Mr. Becker to speak to
the security of the data. She said she knows a number of states
have joined the project, and DOL concluded, in 2011, that a
statutory amendment would be necessary because of "the structure
of the organization under which the states are resting."
9:48:21 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he is not calling into question the
assurance about the security of ERIC, as given by the bill
sponsor, and Misters Lindback and Becker. He questioned, "Do we
really want ... to leave it there?" He questioned what would
happen in 10 years.
MR. KOPP said it is helpful to remember that all the member
states serve as the board of directors; therefore, the states
have complete control over any confidentiality concerns.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER responded that that is precisely his
concern, "because the membership into ERIC would not be the
policy making body; it would be the executive branch of the
State of Alaska, with this action."
9:49:46 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced his intention to hold SB 9 in order to
address unanswered questions. He offered that the proposed
Amendment 1 could come to a vote at this or the next meeting.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER stated his preference to address it now.
9:50:14 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked who had objected to the proposed Amendment 1.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER offered his understanding that no one had
objected.
CHAIR LYNN announced that with no further objection, Amendment 1
was adopted. [Representative Gruenberg had objected to
Amendment 1, for the purpose of discussion and was treated as
withdrawn.]
9:50:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG asked if the ERIC framework is
considered a compact.
MS. BAKALAR answered, "I think it's just an agreement as many
agencies enter into; I don't know that it's technically a
compact." She deferred to Mr. Kopp.
9:51:33 AM
MR. KOPP said he thinks Ms. Bakalar is correct. He said there
is a strict statutory definition for what is an interstate
compact. In response to Representative Gruenberg, he clarified
that he does not think that [ERIC] is a compact. To
Representative Keller's concern, he stated that "the same folks"
that are currently ensuring the confidentiality of data would
continue to be in charge of that confidentiality in the future:
the Division of Elections and elections directors of the states.
He concluded, "So, we're not changing anything administratively
that's already in the law."
9:52:22 AM
SENATOR MICCICHE added, "In fact, none of the departments in the
state that share information outside of the borders of this
state are controlled by elected officials; they are all
administrative, whether it's law enforcement or the courts or
others." He said he would love to have that level of control,
but "we don't have it anywhere in our process." He stated that
people might have an idea of the integrity of Alaska's voter
rolls, but he emphasized that the inaccuracies exist and are
difficult for the department, and "this will assist in that
effort." He indicated there are people who have died over ten
years ago that are still listed on the voter rolls. He said
this is a tough job for the Division of Elections, whose staff
does the best job possible. He reiterated that the proposed
legislation would help.
CHAIR LYNN announced that SB 9 was held over.