04/19/2022 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

                SB 167-ELECTIONS; FRAUD; BALLOTS                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
5:02:30 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER announced  the consideration of SENATE  BILL NO. 167                                                               
"An Act  relating to elections, voter  registration, ballots, and                                                               
a system of tracking and  accounting for ballots; establishing an                                                               
election offense  hotline; relating  to election  fraud, election                                                               
interference,   and  election   official  misconduct;   requiring                                                               
signature verification, notice, and  the opportunity to cure; and                                                               
providing for an effective date."                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
5:03:05 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER opened public testimony on SB 167.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
5:03:22 PM                                                                                                                    
ROBERT WELTON,  representing self,  Douglas, Alaska, said  SB 167                                                               
has both good and bad ideas.  He said the provisions that provide                                                               
a  thorough check  of voter  rolls, mandated  audits of  election                                                               
machines,  and a  voter  tracking system  are  good ideas.  These                                                               
things will  improve the  security and trust  in the  system. But                                                               
changing the  PFD automatic  voter registration  from opt  out to                                                               
opt  in is  a bad  idea. The  provision ignores  the will  of the                                                               
voters who  voted in 2016 to  make that registration opt  out. He                                                               
cited a Division  of Elections report that  indicated that 13,000                                                               
new voters have  been registered under this program  and 4,299 of                                                               
those  individuals voted.  He called  it  a bad  idea to  require                                                               
voters  to  reapply  every  four years  to  receive  an  absentee                                                               
ballot. He pointed  out that the Division  of Elections testified                                                               
to this committee  that no significant fraud  had been identified                                                               
in Alaska elections  so there was no reason to  require voters to                                                               
jump through  this hoop. The  third provision he did  not support                                                               
was the  requirement for signature  verification on  all absentee                                                               
ballots because it opens the  absentee voting process to partisan                                                               
abuse.  He noted  that  a similar  law in  Texas  resulted in  30                                                               
percent of absentee ballots in  a recent election being rejected,                                                               
and warned  against opening the  door for abuse on  this process.                                                               
Finally, he said the addition  of confusing language about ranked                                                               
choice  voting   on  election  pamphlets   is  a  bad   idea.  He                                                               
characterized it as an attempt  to sow confusion and doubt before                                                               
the system had been given a chance.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. WELTON  concluded his testimony  stating that because  of the                                                               
foregoing  articulated  objections, he  did  not  support SB  167                                                               
without  significant amendments.  He  thanked  the committee  for                                                               
listening and  the individual  members for  their service  to the                                                               
state.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
5:06:19 PM                                                                                                                    
MORGAN  LIM, representing  Planned Parenthood  Alliance Advocates                                                               
(PPAA),  Juneau, Alaska,  stated that  PPAA opposes  SB 167  as a                                                               
voter suppression bill  that imposes a web of  barriers to access                                                               
the polls.  The bill  claims to combat  election fraud  in Alaska                                                               
when no fraud had been identified.  He called it a bill in search                                                               
of  a problem  that, if  passed, will  disenfranchise voters.  By                                                               
contrast,  PPAA  supports  policies   that  make  it  easier  for                                                               
eligible  individuals to  register to  vote and  ensure that  all                                                               
votes are  counted equally.  PPAA opposes  the bill's  attempt to                                                               
eliminate voter registration through  the permanent fund dividend                                                               
application process. Automatic  registration not only streamlines                                                               
the process but  also sends the message that  state government is                                                               
committed to the idea that voting is a right, not a privilege.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
He thanked the committee and restated that Planned Parenthood                                                                   
Alliance Advocates opposes SB 167.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
5:07:53 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR SHOWER closed public testimony on SB 167 and held the bill                                                                
in committee.