HB 63-SCHOOL & ELECTION BDS; VOTING; ELECTIONS  4:49:24 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 63, "An Act relating to regional educational attendance area elections; relating to terms for members of regional school boards; relating to voter residence; relating to voter registration; relating to the inclusion of voter registration forms in permanent fund dividend applications; relating to election administration; relating to ballot counting; relating to absentee voting; relating to early voting; relating to voting by mail; relating to publication of election pamphlets; and relating to confidential information in voter registration records." 4:49:44 PM CAROL BEECHER, Director, Division of Elections, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, presented HB 63 on behalf of the bill sponsor, House Rules by request of the governor. She said that HB 63 is the result of feedback that was received from the last election cycles. She said there are a multitude of provisions within the bill, some new ideas and some older ideas. She said that many of these provisions are house-cleaning attempts to help make operations for the Division of Elections more efficient. This includes shortening time to complete ballots and improving the election process. She stated that the Division of Elections' mission is to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by administering voter registration and elections with the highest level of professional standards. She said that the division takes this mission "very seriously" and everything is done in the division to ensure the promises in this mission. She said this bill follows this mission. MS. BEECHER said that one of the provisions in the proposed bill is a change to the Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) elections. She said that currently these elections are held every year, and they are held in October. On an election year when there is both a Primary and General Election, REAAs are in the middle of both elections. She explained that the process of REAA elections is the same as any other election and it is "very challenging" for the Division of Elections to accommodate all these elections. She said the rationale is that if the REAA elections are moved to the odd years then it would eliminate these elections being in the middle of both primary and general elections. She said these would ease the burden on the Division of Elections and save money. She said this shift would require changing the terms of office for the current board members from 1- and 3-year terms to 4-year terms. She said that there are 19 REAA's and these are in unorganized boroughs and for the most part Region 4. She said that multiple seats are elected each year, and they have the same challenges as other elections. She said that the Division of Elections had reached out to all the superintendents and has not heard back from them all and thus far the feedback has been a "mixed bag" regarding their feeling of the bill's proposed changes. 4:53:05 PM MS. BEECHER said that the residency of voters is a continuing issue for the division and the public at large for understanding what constitutes residency. She said the division is aware of the concerns regarding the current voter list and the discrepancies associated with it. She said that one of the things that makes the voter list larger than it should be is the intent to return language that is currently in statute. She said HB 63 would remove the intent to return language and the intent is to reduce confusion about it and provide clarity on what constitutes residency. She said it may not be a perfect solution but an attempt to come to a concise definition of residency. MS. BEECHER said that another provision of the bill would remove the permanent fund dividend automatic voter registration (PFDAVR). She explained that when individuals register for the PFD, they are automatically registered to vote. If they are a new person to register or if their address has changed, then a notice would be sent out regarding re-registration. She said that in 2024, less than one-third of those added to the voter list voted. Out of the 9,056 that were added, only 2,600 voted. She said that it is an expensive program because mailing of the notices costs more than $218,000. She said even though it is called an "automatic voter registration," it was not actually automatic. She said that one component of PFDAVR is that the division adds to the list of inactive voters and that just applying for a PFD is an act of "appearing to vote." She said it causes a continuation of an active voting status. She demonstrated a chart to committee members that the division mailed out 76,550 notices and of those 7,984 opted out. Of those new voters who were registered, there were 9,000 but only 2,639 of them actually voted. 4:57:14 PM MS. BEECHER said that another component of the bill is voter list maintenance. She said that the bill seeks to remove the second notice of the two that are sent out. She said this happens annually around January. She explained that the first notice is non-forwardable and if it comes back to the Division of Elections, then, as required by statute, a forwardable notice is sent. She said that removing the requirement of the second notice would reduce some time and work for the division. She said that the proposed bill also adds two additional conditions for the notices. The first would add that those who become ineligible to receive a PFD would receive a notice. Second is if someone receives a driver's license in another state then it would trigger another notice to be sent. This would allow time to remove inactive voters from the registration list. MS. BEECHER added that early voting was quite different from absentee in-person voting and both start 15 days before the election. She said that when there is a proposal to move these dates back, that means that other concurrent processes also need to be moved back due to timeframes pertaining to registering to vote, candidacy, and ballot printing. She explained the concurrent events that take place "behind the scenes" prior to sending out ballots. She said that early voting requires direct voter registration system access and explained the process. She said this does not happen with in-person absentee voting. She said the voter information is updated in real-time unlike the in-person absentee voting. 5:00:08 PM MS. BEECHER said that only the early voting time would be reduced and not other ballot types. It would only reduce it for those few days where the registers for the polling places have already been printed and there was a potential for fraud. She explained that one of the methods to try to prevent this was that these votes are sequestered and go into an envelope until voter history is completed. She said eliminating the early voting for these few days would reduce early voting times but also reduce the potential for fraud and double voting. It would also provide faster results for elections. 5:01:05 PM MS. BEECHER said that another provision of the bill is absentee votes would be required to be received by election day. She said that the division heard complaints regarding how long it took for Alaska ballots to be counted. She asked why all these ballots are coming in after the election, why it is happening and where they are coming from. She said that by statute, during the Primary Election, ballots must be received by the tenth day after election. She said this means the division isn't done receiving ballots until 10 days after the election. She said overseas ballots can be received 15 days after an election. She said this bill would remove the requirement to receive the ballots on election day and shorten the time required to process ballots. MS. BEECHER said the by-mail voting option in communities of 750 members or less is also a component of the bill. She said that the Division of Elections is looking for ideas and options for expanding voting options and it would not be a mandate. She said this would assist communities that have stated that they will not provide poll workers. She said the division can't afford to wait until election day to know whether poll workers will be available. She said this option will cover these contingencies. She said currently by statute; the division cannot carry out this process. She said that the division wants to leave options open for in-person voting but has alternative options available. MS. BEECHER proceeded to comment on official election pamphlets. She explained that the division spends a lot of money and time mailing official election pamphlets and often hears back to how many are piled up in the post office and being shredded. She said that pamphlets are not cheap to produce. Most cost over $2 each and rural area pamphlets are more than $5 dollars. She said looking at the cost, time, and expense of printing them, the bill proposes the division to continue to produce them but only make them available online. This change would save more than $844,000. 5:04:55 PM MS. BEECHER commented that many voting booths are in a state of disrepair. She said that the Division of Elections is mandated by statute to have voting booths of a specific size and dimension. She said this type of voting booth is not being made anymore. The division put out a request for information (RFI) to determine if anyone could make these and at what cost but was unsuccessful. She said eliminating the restrictions would allow the division to purchase booths [outside the standard dimensions] to replace the old ones. MS. BEECHER said that currently compensation for election board members needs to be by regulation. She stated that it puts the division behind, and boroughs were able to pay workers considerably more and it is challenging to deal with payments for board members. MS. BEECHER mentioned that postage-paid return envelopes are needed as well. She also said that the Division does not want to reject special needs ballots when the error is from the representative. The proposed bill would eliminate this. She discussed the requirements and said the bill would allow greater flexibility for delivering and receiving election material. 5:07:45 PM REPRESENTATIVE VANCE commented that she heard the word democracy repeatedly. She expressed thanks for the opportunity to make comments and said voter engagement is important. She clarified that the United States is a constitutional republic and not a pure democracy. 5:08:31 PM CHAIR CARRICK announced that HB 63 was held over.