Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/17/1998 03:35 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 185 - VOTER LISTS & VOTER REGISTRATION
CHAIRMAN GREEN welcomed the arrival of SENATOR MACKIE.
MS. GAIL FENUMIAI, Election Program Specialist from the Division of
Elections, came forward to present SB 185. She explained the bill
is an attempt to comply with the federal "motor voter" law of 1993.
MS. FENUMIAI remarked that the State of Alaska has not been able to
maintain or purge its voter lists since 1993 due to federal law.
The last time legislation was passed to address this problem, it
was found in violation of the federal law and a suit was brought
against the state by the U.S. Department of Justice.
MS. FENUMIAI commented that the new process set out in the bill
would initially require an address verification card be mailed to
all voters on the rolls. Those who return their cards would have
their address updated or be removed from the rolls, whichever they
indicated on the returned card. Cards that are returned with new
mailing addresses and those that come back "undeliverable" would
need to be sent an additional notice, according to the federal law.
Those voters would then have 45 days to respond to that second
notice. If they did not do so, they would be placed on an inactive
list. If the division does not hear from them through the next two
federal general elections they would be removed from the rolls.
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked when the first mailing would be if this bill
passed in a timely fashion. MS. FENUMIAI believed it would begin
January 1999.
MS. KATHLEEN STRASBAUGH, representing the Department of Law, agreed
with that date. She believed if it could be pre-cleared, the
mailing could go out immediately after the bills passage. She said
pre-clearance is mandated by the Voting Rights Act. She mentioned
it is somewhat unlikely everything will fall into place, but it is
technically possible.
SENATOR MILLER expressed his personal opinion that sending three
notices to every voter is overkill, and asked how it would be
possible to purge the names of those 39,000 people who do not
respond and yet remain on the rolls, according to the chart
provided by the division.
MS. FENUMIAI said there are other methods of removing people from
the list. The division is in contact with vital statistics as well
as checking the paper for obituaries. SENATOR MILLER remarked it
just seemed they were going backwards. He repeated his question
about purging those 39,000 names who remain.
MS. FENUMIAI replied that the federal law does not allow removal of
these voters except by established procedures.
CHAIRMAN GREEN said it was her understanding that the division had
no other option than to send its initial mailing to every voter.
MS. FENUMIAI replied that was correct, the federal law prohibits
targeting people for non-voting.
SENATOR MACKIE expressed concern that money might be saved by
identifying active voters and not mailing to them, but he had
previously received the same information in response to an inquiry.
SENATOR WARD added that he had received mail from the state and he
wanted to know how to prevent the mailing from carrying a picture
of the Governor or Lt. Governor. MS. FENUMIAI responded that the
draft proposal did not contain pictures. SENATOR WARD countered
that he was not referring to the draft but to the law itself and
wanted to know if this could be prevented. MS. FENUMIAI noted that
the majority of the publications of the division do not carry
pictures and SENATOR WARD argued he was not talking about the
majority of publications but this particular one. MS. FENUMIAI
replied that the names nor the pictures appear on the forms at this
time and it is her assumption that they would not.
SENATOR WARD asked if that provision could be included in the bill
and MS. FENUMIAI said if that was the will of the committee they
would follow the law. MS. STRASBAUGH added that this is a policy
choice.
SENATOR WARD agreed and said he wanted it done.
SENATOR MACKIE voiced his support for the bill. He said he had
recently viewed the divisions new ballot counter and was impressed.
He said his attention was grabbed by the fact that there are more
people registered to vote than actually living in the state.
GAIL FENUMIAI informed the committee that the numbers she has
received from the Department of Labor record 414,000 age-eligible
people in the state. MS. FENUMIAI said there are currently 440,000
people on the rolls of the division of elections.
SENATOR MACKIE clarified that if every single person eligible to
vote were registered that number would equal 414,000 people. MS.
FENUMIAI said that was correct.
SENATOR MACKIE mentioned that there is a significant cost
associated with candidate mail outs that candidates incur when the
list is inaccurate. He said he is also concerned that the list
creates the perception of a low voter turnout.
MS. STRASBAUGH commented it is important not to prohibit the
responsible official from signing the transmittal document or
mailing.
SENATOR MILLER agreed with SENATOR MACKIE's comment that many
states have had their numbers thrown off by the "motor voter" law
and he hopes eventually Congress will give states more flexibility
to clean up their lists. He indicated SENATOR WARD was likely
referring to color pictures and not a simple signature. He said it
is important that it stay a state document and not become a
campaign document for anybody.
SENATOR WARD said he has no problem with the Director of the
Division of Elections signing the document or even being pictured
on it. MS. FENUMIAI repeated that whatever the law is, the director
will carry it out. SENATOR WARD understood this, but surmised that
the director is also appointed by the Governor and Lt. Governor and
will follow their instructions.
SENATOR MACKIE said he had some concern with the fiscal note but
was confident it reflected the true cost of the project and would
be further scrutinized by the finance committee.
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked for clarification of the time line. She asked
if the first mailing, before the 1998 general Election, would go to
everyone. MS. STRASBAUGH said it would and the division would send
second notices to those people with whom they have had no contact
in two calendar years. She specified contact could take the form of
voting, calling the division, applying for an absentee ballot, or
signing an initiative petition.
CHAIRMAN GREEN inquired if the cancellation came after two general
elections and MS. STRASBAUGH said that is correct. CHAIRMAN GREEN
imagined then the process would be concluded within three years and
MS. STRASBAUGH said that is also correct.
MS. FENUMIAI mentioned the federal law requires the state bear the
cost of all postage mailed to and returned from voters, and this,
along with printing, represents the majority of the fiscal note.
CHAIRMAN GREEN asked if there would be any way to gather
information at the general election and MS. FENUMIAI responded that
might not follow the federal law. KATHLEEN STRASBAUGH remarked this
might be viewed as targeting.
SENATOR MACKIE asked, more generally, if the Division of Elections
will do everything in the most cost effective way possible to meet
federal law. MS. FENUMIAI replied they would.
SENATOR MILLER suggested the division might want to research
options before the bill reaches the finance committee and again MS.
FENUMIAI replied they would.
MS. WILDA HUDSON testified via teleconference from Anchorage on
behalf of the League of Women Voters. Generally, she supported both
SB 183 and SB 185. She appreciated being able to speak on these
bills.
MS. CAROL DICKASON, also from the League of Women Voters, also
testified via teleconference from Anchorage. She pointed out the
possibility that section 3 of SB 185 conflicts with section 9 of SB
183. She expressed concern that the definition of "contact" might
prove to be cumbersome for the Division of Elections. She also
noted that the bills have different effective dates and wondered if
that might be a problem.
KATHLEEN STRASBAUGH explained that the bills are drafted to stand
alone. She said any inconsistencies between the two bills, if
passed, would be remedied by the Revisor of Statutes.
GAIL FENUMIAI addressed the question brought up by MS. DICKASON,
saying it would not be a burden to allow initiative signatures to
be processed in order to qualify as "contacts". MS. STRASBAUGH
added that having numerous methods of contacting the division
reduces the risk of being charged with targeting certain voters.
SENATOR WARD asked if the concern regarding the effective date had
been addressed and CHAIRMAN GREEN explained the effective date
would be automatically triggered in 90 days in the absence of a
specific date. MS. STRASBAUGH said the bills were designed this
way; it would be more convenient if they both passed together but
at this point cleaning up the rolls was more of a priority.
SENATOR WARD mentioned he would follow up on his concern about
pictures on the mailings. He then moved SB 185 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note.
Without objection, it was so ordered.
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