Legislature(2023 - 2024)GRUENBERG 120
03/19/2024 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB306 | |
| HB225 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 306 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 225 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 225-POSTING OF UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS
3:18:16 PM
CHAIR SHAW announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 225, "An Act relating to the tabulation of
ballots; and requiring the division of elections to provide
unofficial election results before the results of an election
are certified."
3:18:31 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:18 p.m. to 3:21 p.m.
3:21:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ANDREW GRAY, Alaska State Legislature, presented
HB 225, as prime sponsor. He paraphrased a sponsor statement
[included in the committee packet], which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
In 2020, Alaskan voters approved Ballot Measure 2,
which implemented ranked choice voting (RCV) for
general elections. This system of elections allows
voters to rank candidates in order of preference,
eliminating the candidate with the lowest vote totals
and reallocating their second-choice votes, and
repeating this process until one candidate has over
50% of the vote.
However, in the 2022 election, voters did not receive
the final results until 15 days after the election,
causing some confusion. As with any electoral system,
transparency and timely results must be prioritized to
the voters.
HB 225 addresses this concern by requiring the
Division of Elections to release the ranking data
necessary to conduct RCV tabulations on the day after
the general election, and also when it releases
unofficial election results. Knowing the vote totals
along with ranking data will allow voters and
candidates to have a more up-to-date picture of the
standings before the final tabulation.
HB 225 is a simple bill that will help increase
transparency around our electoral process, so I ask
for your support.
REPRESENTATIVE GRAY stated that his office worked with the
Division of Elections to create HB 225, which [carries a zero
fiscal note].
3:24:15 PM
DAVID SONG, Staff, Representative Andrew Gray, Alaska State
Legislature, provided a PowerPoint presentation, titled "HB 225
Posting Unofficial Elections Results" [hard copy included in the
committee packet]. He began on slide 2, titled "Background
Information," which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• Ballot Measure 2 in 2020 instituted Ranked Choice
Voting (RCV).
• RCV allows voters to rank their candidates in order
of preference.
• If no candidate receives 50% + of the first-
choice vote, the candidate with the lowest vote total
is eliminated and second-choice votes are reallocated.
• Process is repeated until one candidate has
over 50% of the vote.
• RCV takes more time than single-choice voting.
MR. SONG moved to slide 3, titled "2022 Alaska Elections," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Division of Elections took 15 days to release full
tabulation results for the 2022 general election.
• Division of Elections' policy of not releasing
ranking data in a timely manner created confusion
• Example: Initial results for 2022 Senate elections
had:
• Kelly Tshibaka in the lead on 11/9.
• Lisa Murkowski won after tabulation on 11/23
3:26:03 PM
MR. SONG moved to slide 4, titled "Results Don't Have To Be
Slow," which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Delay in results undermines trust in elections.
• Digital scanning of ballots allows for instant
release of results.
• Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center recommends
several actions including:
• Round by round tabulation tally on election
night.
• Publishing the entire ballot record so that
anyone can verify the results.
• Clear communication of expectations, timelines,
and results.
MR. SONG moved to slide 5, titled "What Does HB 225 Do?," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Incorporates some of these best practices for Alaska
elections.
• Releases the unofficial results with ALL of the
ballot data the day after election day, not just
first-choice votes.
• No more 15-day delays for results.
• Ongoing release of unofficial election results
will include ALL ballot data.
• Allows for elections observers to conduct their own
tabulations in order to see how second, third, etc.
votes will be allocated.
• No blindsiding
3:27:18 PM
MR. SONG moved to slide 6, titled "What Does HB 225 NOT Do?,"
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Data will not include hand-count precincts in
preliminary release of results.
• Does not affect municipal election procedures.
Municipalities that have adopted handcount elections
will not be affected.
• Does not require the Division of Elections to
conduct a round-by-round tabulation, adding additional
staffing.
• Just releases the ballot data so observers,
media, etc. can conduct their own tabulations.
MR. SONG moved to slide 7, titled "Concluding Remarks," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
If RCV is overturned, HB 225 no longer applies.
• HB 225 brings transparency and efficiency to Alaska
elections we will be like the rest of the country:
we will know who is really in the lead in our closest
races the day after the elections.
3:28:32 PM
WILLIAM ADLER, Associate Director, The Elections Project,
Bipartisan Policy Center, explained that the Bipartisan Policy
Center's Elections Project advocates for pragmatic solutions to
improve American elections, does not take a formal position on
rank-choice voting but does support best-practices for any
voting method. He applauded the goal of HB 225 to ensure voters
are aware of who is leading in a rank-choice election as results
are reported. He stated that this is a manageable task for
Alaska's election workers and would increase public transparency
of elections. Under the current model, it takes more than two
weeks for voters to get a clear picture of which candidate is
leading. Expediting more comprehensive results aligns with the
best practices for rank-choice voting.
MR. ADLER noted several close elections in 2022. Best practices
for rank-choice voting involve releasing preliminary round-by-
round tallies on election night and updating the votes as more
are counted. This would make the election more transparent and
provide voters with an earlier and more meaningful picture of
election results. He said HB 225 mitigates some administrative
concerns associated with delayed unofficial tabulation. Alaska
has a history of competitive elections. Delayed election
results can result in inadequate time for the transfer of power.
He exemplified the heightened difficulties for the governorship
because the governor's term begins just four weeks after the
election. The proposed legislation would mitigate that concern.
3:32:55 PM
MR. ADLER mentioned some minor revisions that could be made to
the bill to eliminate some ambiguities and ensure that the data
released by the division is usable by the public without
proprietary software. In addition to releasing the data
necessary for observers to conduct the tabulation, the division
could conduct the tabulation and release it as unofficial
results. He emphasized that voters need transparency,
candidates need time to transition into office, and election
administrators need clear guidelines from the legislature.
3:33:58 PM
LOREN LEMAN, Former Lieutenant Governor, mentioned that he has
been an Alaska voter for 51 years. He told a story of a tied
result in a legislative race. He mentioned his involvement in
the citizen-lead initiative to repeal rank-choice voting. He
discussed three criticisms of rank-choice voting and said that
the process is confusing, it takes too long to get results, and
can produce results that are different from a "regular"
election. He mentioned that HB 225 would address one of his
criticisms of rank-choice voting by creating faster preliminary
results. He mentioned that he spoke with Division of Elections
director, Carol Beecher and affirmed that the division can
support the intention of the bill; however, she warned that in a
close election, the results could swing from one candidate to
the other. He advised that to make changes to improve voter
participation, the bill could be amended to repeal rank choice
voting. Passing HB 225 as is could make a small improvement to
elections regarding reporting.
3:37:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if the Division of Elections is
available to discuss the bill. She requested information about
current statute that limits the release of results for over two
weeks.
3:39:07 PM
CAROL BEECHER, Director, Central Office, Division of Elections,
Office of the Lieutenant Governor, based on her interpretation
of current statute, noted a regulation that the ranking would
occur after the fifteenth day. The division must wait for all
the ballots to be submitted. She noted that for the general
election, ballots can come in up to the fifteenth day after the
election if they are postmarked on election day. Rank-choice
voting requires that if no candidate receives 50 percent of the
vote, then the ranking process begins. She clarified that the
division must wait until all the votes are in before determining
which races need to be ranked.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if the timeline in HB 225 would work
from the perspective of the Division of Elections.
MS. BEECHER affirmed that the division could provide the data to
run the results.
REPRESENTATIVE STORY asked if there are any downsides to
releasing results as they become available.
MS. BEECHER stated her belief that voter confusion is still a
possibility. She said that results can go up and down as the
results are submitted, which may be confusing for people who
lack understanding of how rank-choice votes are calculated.
CHAIR SHAW announced that amendments would be due by March 26,
2024, and HB 225 was held over.