04/09/2022 10:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS

               SB 161-POLITICAL PARTY DEFINITION                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:07:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS  announced that the first  order of business                                                               
would be  CS FOR SENATE  BILL NO.  161(JUD), "An Act  relating to                                                               
the  definition  of  'political  party';  and  providing  for  an                                                               
effective date."                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:07:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  BILL  WIELECHOWSKI,   Alaska  State  Legislature,  prime                                                               
sponsor, introduced  CSSB 161(JUD).   He paraphrased  the sponsor                                                               
statement [included in  the committee packet], which  read in its                                                               
entirety as follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
     Senate Bill  161 simplifies  the process  for political                                                                    
     parties  gaining  official recognition  by  recognizing                                                                    
     any party  with at least 5,000  registered voters. This                                                                    
     bill would replace the  current variable threshold with                                                                    
     a  standard that  is simple  and consistent.  The 5,000                                                                    
     threshold  would  be  adjusted for  population  changes                                                                    
     after every 10 year census,  and rounded to the nearest                                                                    
     500.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Currently political  parties gain or  maintain official                                                                    
     recognition  by having  registered voters  equal to  at                                                                    
     least 3%  of the  total votes  cast for  governor, U.S.                                                                    
     Senate, or  U.S. House of  Representatives in  the last                                                                    
     election depending  on which  office was on  the ballot                                                                    
     that  year.   This  threshold  can  vary   wildly  from                                                                    
     election  to election  and after  the 2020  election it                                                                    
     increased by 27% because of record voter turnout.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     With the  passage of Ballot  Measure 2,  official party                                                                    
     status  will  no longer  be  used  to determine  ballot                                                                    
     access  for  candidates  for  governor  and  lieutenant                                                                    
     governor, U.S.  Congress, or Alaska  State Legislature.                                                                    
     The  only  offices   for  which  officially  recognized                                                                    
     parties  will have  automatic  ballot  access are  U.S.                                                                    
     president and  vice president. Parties with  much fewer                                                                    
     than  5,000 registered  voter  routinely secure  ballot                                                                    
     access by  petition and SB  161 will save  the Division                                                                    
     of  Elections   the  time  and  expense   of  reviewing                                                                    
     petitions for parties that  have already demonstrated a                                                                    
     significant amount of support.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     Officially  recognized   parties  have  the   right  to                                                                    
     purchase two  pages in the Official  Election Pamphlet,                                                                    
     to nominate  poll workers  and election  board members,                                                                    
     and  to have  observers present  at polling  places and                                                                    
     counting  centers.  In  addition, there  are  different                                                                    
     campaign finance limits and reporting requirements for                                                                     
     recognized  parties and  unrecognized  parties. SB  161                                                                    
     ensures that this status is determined by a simple,                                                                        
     consistent, and easy to understand threshold.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Thank you for your consideration.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:09:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked whether the bill sponsor had received                                                                
any feedback from the Division of Elections (DOE), Office of the                                                                
Lieutenant Governor.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI indicated that the division had not                                                                        
commented on the proposed legislation.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:10:48 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked why  the legislature wouldn't afford                                                               
these benefits to  groups of any size that  wanted to participate                                                               
as a recognized  party.  He questioned why the  threshold was set                                                               
at 5,000 registered voters.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI  said it  was a policy  call.   He explained                                                               
that  5,000 was  requested by  a constituent.   He  addressed the                                                               
benefits  of being  a  recognized  party, including  presidential                                                               
ballot access;  the right to  purchase two pages in  the official                                                               
election  pamphlet;  the  right  to  nominate  poll  workers  and                                                               
election board members;  and the right to  have observers present                                                               
at polling  places and counting centers.   Additionally, campaign                                                               
finance   limits  and   reporting  limits   were  different   for                                                               
recognized  parties.     For  those   reasons,  he   argued  that                                                               
establishing  a  threshold  was  necessary  to  avoid  logistical                                                               
problems, such  as the size of  the election pamphlet or  a large                                                               
number of poll workers or election board members.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  EASTMAN  asked  how many  political  groups  were                                                               
competing to become an official party.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI deferred to Mr. Dunsmore.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:13:10 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DAVID DUNSMORE,  Staff, Senator  Bill Wielechowski,  Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, on behalf of Senator  Wielechowski, prime sponsor of                                                               
CSSB 161(JUD),  estimated that the  number of groups  was between                                                               
8-12.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:13:28 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  TARR   asked  whether  a  sunset   provision  was                                                               
considered to account for population growth.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted  that a change was made  in the Senate                                                               
Judiciary  Standing Committee  to  include an  adjustment of  the                                                               
5,000-voter threshold  every 10  years to account  for population                                                               
growth or decline.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:14:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN  suggested that registered voters  was not                                                               
an appropriate metric.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI pointed out that  prior to Ballot Measure 2,                                                               
political parties  could attain  status via registered  voters or                                                               
securing  a  3 percent  threshold  in  the  "top of  the  ticket"                                                               
election.   After Ballot  Measure 2,  however, voters  elected to                                                               
make  registered  voters  the only  qualification  for  achieving                                                               
recognized status.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:17:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KREISS-TOMKINS announced that CSSB 226(JUD) was held over.