03/09/2023 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Division of Elections Response to Questions About Elections | |
| SJR6 | |
| SB1 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SJR 6 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 1 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE STATE AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
March 9, 2023
3:57 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Scott Kawasaki, Chair
Senator Matt Claman, Vice Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Senator Kelly Merrick
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
QUESTIONS FOR THE DIVISION OF ELECTIONS
- HEARD
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6
Honoring the Alaska-Korea relationship; and celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United
States and the Republic of Korea, the 70th anniversary of the
Korean Armistice Agreement, and the 120th anniversary of the
first Korean immigration to the United States.
- MOVED CSSJR 6(STA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 1
"An Act relating to election security, voting, and ballots; and
providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SJR 6
SHORT TITLE: HONORING THE ALASKA-KOREA RELATIONSHIP
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) TOBIN
01/18/23 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/18/23 (S) STA
02/28/23 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/28/23 (S) Heard & Held
02/28/23 (S) MINUTE(STA)
BILL: SB 1
SHORT TITLE: ELECTIONS: BALLOT, VOTING, SECURITY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) SHOWER
01/18/23 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/23
01/18/23 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/18/23 (S) STA, JUD, FIN
03/07/23 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/07/23 (S) Heard & Held
03/07/23 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/09/23 (S) STA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
CAROL BEECHER, Director
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Responded to questions about the Division of
Elections.
MICHAELA THOMPSON, Administrative Manager
Absentee and Petition Office
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions about the Division of
Elections.
THOMAS FLYNN, Assistant Attorney General
Labor and State Affairs Section
Civil Division
Department of Law
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions about election processes.
LAURI WILSON, Region 1 Supervisor
Division of Elections
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions about election processes.
SCOTT OGAN, Staff
Senator Mike Shower
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the sectional analysis for SB 1 on
behalf of the sponsor.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:57:56 PM
CHAIR SCOTT KAWASAKI called the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:57 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Wielechowski, and Chair Kawasaki. He
acknowledged he did not have a quorum to conduct business.
Senator Claman arrived thereafter.
^DIVISION OF ELECTIONS RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ELECTIONS
DIVISION OF ELECTIONS RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ELECTIONS
4:00:31 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI announced the first order of business would be to
hear from Director Carol Beecher with the Division of Elections
who would go over the answers to the elections-related questions
the committee submitted earlier. He noted that the division did
not have enough time to prepare a response to all the questions.
4:01:11 PM
CAROL BEECHER, Director, Alaska Division of Elections, Office of
the Lieutenant Governor, Juneau, Alaska, introduced herself;
Lori Wilson, the supervisor of the Region 1 Elections Office;
Michaela Thompson, the Administrative Manager of the Absentee
and Petition Office; and Thomas Flynn, the division's attorney
from the Department of Law. She shared her personal and
professional background with the committee.
MS. BEECHER asked how she should proceed.
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked Senator Wielechowski to start by asking the
questions that were generated from his office.
4:03:07 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked Ms. Beecher to discuss the concern
that had been articulated that the 2020 and 2022 elections were
"rigged" or "fraudulent" and whether the division believed this
to be the case.
MS. BEECHER responded that the division can only speak to the
elections conducted in Alaska and they had seen no evidence of
rigging or fraud in the Alaska elections.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked her to comment on the testimony given
during the previous committee meeting that the Dominion voting
machines and software enables rigging and fraudulent counts and
whether the division believes there is any evidence that this is
valid.
MS. BEECHER responded that the division can only speak to the
machines it uses on elections in Alaska and they had seen no
evidence in Alaska to support that claim.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked her to talk about the technology
that's used in the Dominion voting machines; how it differs from
other voting machine technologies; and how it compares to the
technology in other voting machines the state has used in the
past.
MS. BEECHER responded that the division didn't have a chance to
answer the question fully, but she would follow up with a
written response.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked her to talk about how the Dominion
software works for recounts and voter intent adjudication.
MS. BEECHER responded that was another question that the
division didn't have a chance to answer fully, but she would
follow up with a written response.
4:06:07 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked her to talk about how special needs
ballots are treated differently than absentee ballots because
they were rejected at a much higher rate in the 2022 general
election. The rejection ratio was 8 percent for special needs
ballots versus 1.3 percent for the by-mail ballots
MS. BEECHER stated that the statutory requirements for special
needs ballots appear to result in more non-compliant ballots.
The statute requires the personal representative of the special
needs voter to complete all sections on the application and sign
as the witness. If anything is lacking, the ballot is rejected
per the statute.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether the division had any
suggestions on how to amend the elections statute to reduce the
rejection rate of special needs ballots.
MS. BEECHER deferred the question to Michaela Thompson.
4:07:33 PM
MICHAELA THOMPSON, Administrative Manager, Absentee and Petition
Office, Division of Elections, Office of the Lieutenant
Governor, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that reducing the rejection
rate would require a statutory change.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether an otherwise valid special
needs ballot can be rejected because of mistakes the personal
representative or poll workers made.
MS. THOMPSON responded that a ballot generally is not rejected
if a poll worker made an error. She deferred to Thomas Flynn to
add insight.
4:08:41 PM
THOMAS FLYNN, Assistant Attorney General, Labor and State
Affairs Section, Civil Division, Department of Law, Anchorage,
Alaska, advised that poll workers usually are not personal
representatives for special needs voters so there usually would
not be mistakes by a poll worker in that circumstance, but a
mistake made by a personal representative of a voter with
special needs could invalidate a ballot.
4:09:17 PM
SENATOR CLAMAN asked how much the US Postal Service (USPS)
charged the Division of Elections for the postage due in 2022
for the June Special Election, the August Primary Election, and
the November General Election, and the total of all three.
MS. BEECHER stated that the USPS did not charge the division for
any of the postage due ballots it delivered.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked if there was any reason to believe that a
bill might still be forthcoming.
MS. BEECHER said no; the financial staff informed her that the
division had never received a bill for postage due ballots.
SENATOR CLAMAN summarized that contrary to testimony during the
previous hearing, ballots historically have been delivered even
if they had insufficient postage. Furthermore, the division had
never been billed for ballots with insufficient postage.
MS. BEECHER said to her knowledge that is correct. She directed
attention to USPS Publication 632 that says the USPS will not
return a ballot with insufficient postage to the sender, but
they will charge the agency.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether the division had identified the
USPS regulation that backs the statement in USPS Publication
632.
MS. BEECHER said the division had not identified the specific
regulation.
4:11:51 PM
SENATOR CLAMAN asked her to comment on the testimony the
committee heard during the last meeting about postage paid
elections envelopes potentially having an impact on ballot
tracking.
MS. BEECHER deferred the question.
4:12:22 PM
MS. THOMPSON said she couldn't speak to that specifically
because there hasn't been that experience in Alaska, but she
could talk about the current process. She said the division is
able to track outgoing ballots through the USPS tracking, but
not incoming ballots that are mailed via the USPS. The division
has a tool that makes it possible for voters to track their
ballot application status, the ballot sent date, their mailing
address, and when their ballot has been returned to a regional
elections office. Currently there is no way to track the ballot
back to the division office.
SENATOR CLAMAN asked if she was referring to the tracking that's
available through the USPS.
MS. THOMPSON answered that the division uses an intelligent mail
barcode, which is what the USPS uses to track outgoing mail. The
division can easily spray that barcode onto the label of the
absentee ballot envelope, but it's logistically difficult to
create the unique envelope that goes from the voter's residence
back to the division.
SENATOR CLAMAN summarized the answer and Ms. Thompson agreed
with the summary.
4:15:00 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI posed the following question:
The Municipality of Anchorage has requested, as part
of its legislative program, that DOE share voter
emails and phone numbers with municipalities for
elections purposes. The MOA believes this action can
be taken at the discretion of the director and does
not require statutory or regulatory changes: does DOE
concur, and will DOE agree to share this information?
MS. BEECHER said that information would not be easy to provide
to a municipality because the division doesn't collect that
information in its system. Phone numbers and email addresses are
on the physical registration forms and only used to clarify
registration or absentee application information. She
acknowledged that the division would figure out a way to do this
if directed to do so.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she was talking about the division
getting direction through legislation.
MS. BEECHER said yes.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether the division was receptive to
an agreement with the Municipality of Anchorage and other
municipalities to share ballot drop boxes.
MS BEECHER deferred the question to Lauri Wilson.
4:17:21 PM
LAURI WILSON, Region 1 Supervisor, Division of Elections, Office
of the Lieutenant Governor, Juneau, Alaska, stated that the
division borrowed drop boxes from the Municipality of Anchorage
and the City and Borough of Juneau and shipped them to selected
areas of the state for the 2020 election. This was partially due
to the Covid-19 pandemic. The problem with doing this is that
the boxes are large and heavy and there aren't enough to send to
all locations throughout the state.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she knew how many drop boxes were
available in 2022 for voters in Anchorage to drop off their
ballots.
MS. WILSON said she didn't recall but would follow up with the
information.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI offered his understanding that there were
three drop boxes in Anchorage and that the municipality was
willing to lend them to the division. He asked why the state
wouldn't use those drop boxes when it was admittedly easier for
people to vote in 2020 when they were available.
MS. WILSON said the director decided not to use them because
they wouldn't be available for all communities. They're also
heavy and difficult to move around. She pointed out that the
division has absentee voting locations in more than 120
locations throughout the state where people can drop off their
by-mail ballots. Voters can also drop off their ballots at early
voting stations.
4:20:25 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked Ms. Beecher to talk about the steps
the division takes to verify witness signatures.
MS. BEECHER deferred the question to Ms. Thompson.
4:20:48 PM
MS. THOMPSON explained that the review board checks the witness
verification area to see that it's properly filled out and
signed.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she agreed that the witness
signature was waived for by-mail ballots in the 2020 election
and it resulted in significantly lower ballot rejection rates.
MS. THOMPSON said she did not have the ballot rejection rate
data with her, but she would follow up with the information.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if it was accurate to say that a
judge said the ballot witness requirement could not be enforced
for the 2020 election.
MS. THOMPSON agreed that the court ruled to temporarily suspend
the witness signature requirement.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the division saw any evidence that
fraudulent by-mail ballots were counted in the 2020 election as
a result of that ruling.
MS. THOMPSON replied that the division has found no evidence
that fraudulent by-mail ballots were counted in the 2020
election as a result of the judge's ruling.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if it was correct that the division
rejected by-mail ballots in the most recent election that did
not have a witness signature.
MS. THOMPSON said that is correct; the law requires a signature.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if it was accurate to say that there
was no verification of the witness's signature.
MS. THOMPSON clarified that the review board checks to make sure
a signature is in the witness area of the ballot return
envelope.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if it was accurate to say that there
was no verification that a voter or a person over age 18 signed
as a witness.
MR. THOMPSON responded that the witness is agreeing to tell the
truth when they sign the absentee ballot return envelope. A
false statement is a crime under AS 15.56.040.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether a witness had ever been
charged with falsifying a witness signature.
MS. THOMPSON deferred the question to Mr. Flynn.
4:24:09 PM
MR. FLYNN said he was not aware of anybody being charged with
falsifying a witness signature, but he would double check.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked whether the absentee by-mail envelope
requires the witness to print their full name or provide their
date of birth.
MR. FLYNN answered no; the witness does not have to provide that
information.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the Department of Law or the
Division of Elections saw any problem with the fact that people
are required to have a witness signature on the by-mail ballot
return envelope and ballots are rejected if the witness
signature is missing, but nothing about the witness is verified.
MR. FLYNN responded that the law requires a witness signature
and the division looks for one.
4:25:25 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI asked Ms. Beecher if the division would use
ballot drop boxes if the state made them available or if it
would need to be in law.
MS. BEECHER stated that the division's desire is for everyone
who is eligible to vote is able to vote and that it is easy and
convenient to do so. At the same time, the division has to
consider the uniform application of voting processes throughout
the state and it would be a challenge to supply voter drop boxes
in all locations. She offered to follow up with the specific
rules associated with the boxes and what the division could do
to make it more convenient.
4:27:56 PM
SENATOR CLAMAN followed up on Senator Wielechowski's inquiry
about sharing voter emails and phone numbers with municipalities
for elections purposes. He asked if the reason that information
is not put into the division's database is because the statute
doesn't include that information in the list the division is
required to maintain.
MS. BEECHER deferred the question to Ms. Thompson.
MS. THOMPSON responded that the division generally doesn't use
voter phone numbers and emails. It's only used on an individual
basis to clarify voter information.
SENATOR CLAMAN said his question was whether the reason the
information wasn't in the division's database was that it's not
required by statute.
MS. THOMPSON said that's correct; her understanding is that it
is not required by statute.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said voters and poll watchers reported that
voters were confused by the placement of the write-in line on
the ranked choice ballots, which resulted in a significant
number of spoiled ballot. He asked whether the Division of
Elections intended to redesign the ballot to reduce the
confusion between the write-in bubble and the bubble for the
candidate listed just above that line.
MS. BEECHER responded that the division is looking at how to
make that part of the ballot more intuitive.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what the division needs to be able to
comply with AS 15.50.370 that requires precinct results to be
reported no later than the day after the day of the election
because this did not happen for the 2022 elections.
MS. BEECHER said she would follow up with a full written
response.
4:31:46 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI noted the significant confusion in his
district and others when precinct locations were changed without
notice. His office sent letters to notify the division of these
concerns and they were not addressed. He asked whether DOE had
any plans to reestablish the traditional precinct voting
locations in Fairbanks and east Anchorage.
MS. BEECHER replied that there was no plan to do that at this
time. She explained that polling locations are determined based
on voter turnout, population, historical voter actions, and the
overall ability for the division to secure a voting location.
She offered to look into the matter further.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI mentioned a May 1, 2022 article by James
Brooks in the Anchorage Daily News that reported a voter
registration rate of 106 percent. He asked her to talk about
that and whether changes might be needed.
MS. BEECHER said she'd follow up in writing and she'd like Ms.
Thompson to respond now.
4:34:02 PM
MS. THOMPSON said the division could look at possible
improvements to the statute governing voter roll maintenance.
DOE currently relies on returned undeliverable mail for list
maintenance. She offered to send the White Paper that explains
the division's current processes.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI related his experience trying to match the
information on a list from the Division of Elections with the
person who answers the door when he knocks. The voting record
indicates that the person has voted in every election for the
last decade and the person who answers the door says that
individual moved out of state 10 years ago.
MS. THOMPSON explained that Alaska law for residency is based on
the voter's intention to return to Alaska. She suggested that
the legislature might want to review that law because the
division is simply following the law. If the person continues to
vote, that indicates their intention to return to Alaska.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if other states had similar laws.
MS. THOMPSON offered to do some research about other state
voting laws and get back to the committee.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he'd like that information because
it's a question that comes up repeatedly. He switched topics and
asked if it's against the law for a voter to continue to vote in
a district they're registered in but they no long live in that
district.
MS. THOMPSON responded that, again, it's based on voter intent.
The division wouldn't know whether or not the person intends to
move back to their old district. If the voter doesn't inform the
poll worker that they no longer live at that address, the voter
will sign the ballot verification book and receive a ballot. If
the voter says they've moved, they can vote a question ballot
and the voter has the opportunity to put their correct address.
If that happens, the division will update their registration to
the new residence address.
4:38:03 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked her to talk about the Electronic
Registration Information Center (ERIC) and whether the state
participates with that organization and believes it provides a
useful function.
MS. BEECHER said the state is a member of ERIC and a benefit is
that it is helpful for voter list maintenance. There are also
drawbacks that the division is looking into.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked for the benefits and the drawbacks.
MS. BEECHER responded that states share information with ERIC
that can be used for list maintenance opportunities between
states. A drawback is that membership is expensive so the
division is looking at whether it's a good return on investment
for the state.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if there was another organization
that provides the same service as ERIC.
MS. BEECHER said she didn't believe anything was comparable to
ERIC but she and her staff would look at the possibilities and
provide that information to the committee.
4:40:53 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if she had any ideas or proposals to
change the way elections are conducted in the state.
MS. BEECHER replied that she was looking at all the processes to
see whether there were ways to do a better job in rural
communities in particular. She said this administration is very
invested in ensuring that Alaskans can trust the election
process.
SENATOR CLAMAN followed up on the ERIC discussion saying that
his sense is that ERIC helps address the challenge that all 50
states don't communicate with one another to keep the voter
rolls up to date. He asked if that wasn't part of the reason
that the state had participated in ERIC for as long as it has.
MS. BEECHER said her understanding was that the genesis of ERIC
was to get states to work together to make voter rolls as
accurate and clean as possible.
SENATOR CLAMAN urged the division to move carefully and do a
detailed research and analysis of the alternatives before making
any changes to the state's membership in ERIC.
4:45:24 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI mentioned the last presidential election
and the states that questioned certifying the election. He asked
what kind of evidence the division would need to see to not
certify an election.
MS. BEECHER said she couldn't answer at this time, but would
probably have an answer later in the year.
CHAIR KAWASAKI thanked Ms. Beecher for appearing before the
committee and asked her to respond in writing to the committee's
remaining questions.
4:47:02 PM
At ease
SJR 6-HONORING THE ALASKA-KOREA RELATIONSHIP
4:47:29 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI announced the consideration of SENATE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 6 Honoring the Alaska-Korea relationship; and
celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty
between the United States and the Republic of Korea, the 70th
anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement, and the 120th
anniversary of the first Korean immigration to the United
States.
He noted that this was the second hearing and the committee
adopted a committee substitute (CS) during the previous hearing.
4:47:58 PM
SENATOR LUKI TOBIN, District I, Alaska State Senate, Juneau,
Alaska, sponsor of SJR 6, thanked the committee for hearing and
supporting the legislation.
CHAIR KAWASAKI found no questions or comments and solicited a
motion.
4:48:13 PM
SENATOR CLAMAN moved to report CSSJR 6, work order 33-LS0284\U,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note(s).
4:48:29 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI found no objection and CSSJR 6(STA) was reported
from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.
4:48:49 PM
At ease
SB 1-ELECTIONS: BALLOT, VOTING, SECURITY
4:49:38 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 1 "An Act relating to election
security, voting, and ballots; and providing for an effective
date."
He noted that this was a continuation of the introduction of the
bill.
4:50:21 PM
SCOTT OGAN, Staff, Senator Mike Shower, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, presented the sectional analysis
for SB 1 on behalf of the sponsor.
Section 1. Amends AS 15.15.030 to add a new paragraph
that provides an official ballot must contain a
watermark seal or other security identifier to include
an election official signature.
Section 2. Amends AS 15.15 by adding new sections that
mandate that the director shall adopt a regulation
providing for ballot security and chain of custody.
Requires a redundant secure and sealed system that
accounts for the location and entity that has custody
of a ballot or record, from the printer until 22
months after the applicable election is certified.
Maintains strict physical chain of custody protocols,
utilizing a barcode or other sufficient system.
Requires periodic updates to incorporate best practice
chain of custody protocols.
Requires all ballots sent out to be returned to an
approved location, to preserve the forensic integrity
of the ballots.
Establishes an election offense hotline. Requires the
director to ensure that the hotline is continuously
staffed during the hours that absentee voting stations
are open, during the hours that an early voting
location is open, and 24 hours after the polls open,
and daily until all election results are certified.
Section 3. Amends AS 15.15.060 by adding a new
subsection requiring the director to post the election
hotline notices in a conspicuous place at the polls.
Section 4. Amends AS 15.15.250 by requiring that the
ballots will be required to be voided and secured to
maintain forensic evidence and strict chain of custody
of all ballots.
Section 5. Amends 15.20.020 authorizing the director
with administrative supervision authority to implement
the use of online multi factor authentication system
for tracking absentee ballots.
4:53:14 PM
Section 6. Amends 15.20.064 by adding a new subsection
modifying early voting requirements to allow an
absentee voter to vote a question ballot if they do
not have sufficient proof of residency identification.
The election board and candidates will have the
opportunity to sufficiently determine if the voter was
qualified to vote.
Section 7. Amends 15.20.081(e) to provide that a
ballot received after the day of the election that is
not postmarked or is postmarked after the day of the
election may not be counted unless the ballot envelope
is marked with the United States Postal Service
tracking barcode sufficient to verify that the ballot
was mailed on or before the day of the election.
Section 8. Amends 15.20.203(b) to close a loophole
that allowed a ballot to be counted despite the
failure of an absentee voting official or election
supervisor to properly sign and date the voters
certificate as an official required under 15.20.061.
This section requires a United States Postal Service
tracking barcode sufficient to verify that the battle
was mailed on or before the day of the election.
Section 9. Amends 15.20.220(b) by authorizing the
state review board to review and count absentee
ballots if the ballots have been properly cured.
Refers to the new section 15.20.222 that sets up the
procedure for curing uncounted ballots.
Section 10. Amends 15.20.221 by adding a new section
that mandate the director to establish an online multi
factor authentication (MFA) system. Authorizes the
director to procure the system from a third-party.
Stipulates the system must be designed to allow a
voter to easily use the system to a mobile electronic
device. Apps must allow for a very efficient curing
and tracking process. This section also outlines the
procedure for curing simple ballot errors.
4:56:02 PM
Section 11. Amends 15.20.900 by adding new subsections
requiring the division to conduct routine forensic
examination of each precinct tabulator before and
after the election. Prohibits any connectivity to the
internet or a cellular network. Requires a strict
chain of custody protocol for precinct tabulators in a
separate storage device, and requires the division to
provide a technical subject matter expert appointment
for supervised access to all election data algorithm
software equipment including precinct tabulator
storage devices, voting machines and vote tally
systems.
Section 12 Amends AS 15.800.006 by adding a new
section requiring the director to develop a cyber
security program to keep election data safe.
Section 13. Amends 24.20.060 granting the Legislative
Council powers to provide a contractual technical
subject matter expert to conduct a full forensic audit
of voting machines, tabulators, storage devices, and
vote tally systems.
Section 14. Adds a new section to the uncodified law
allowing transitional regulations
Section 15. Section 14 of the bill has an immediate
effective date, to allow transitional regulations
Section 16. Excluding section 15 (immediate effective
date,) allows the rest of the bill to take effect
January 1, 2024.
4:57:56 PM
CHAIR KAWASAKI held SB 1 in committee.
4:59:22 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Kawasaki adjourned the Senate State Affairs Standing
Committee meeting at 4:59 p.m.
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