HB 109-ABSENTEE & QUESTIONED BALLOT CERTIFICATES  RYNNIEVA MOSS, legislative aide for Representative Coghill, introduced HB 109 as the result of an incident that occurred during municipal elections in Fairbanks. A resident from outside the City of North Pole went to the city hall to vote a question ballot. Several weeks later, he received a letter informing him that his ballot hadn't been counted because the election official had neglected to sign the certification on the question ballot. HB 109 is a secure measure that does nothing more than protect an individual's right to vote. It addresses both absentee and question ballots that are voted at a poling station and it says that errors made by election officials at the polling station won't invalidate the ballot. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said initially, he wondered whether this would remove the witnessing requirement on absentee ballots but, upon closer inspection, he realized it would not. SENATOR PHILLIPS asked for clarification on the issue that precipitated the legislation. MS. MOSS said that this legislation amends AS 15.20.207(b) to read: "A questioned ballot may not be counted if the voter has failed to properly execute the certificate." It removes the portion stating that a ballot may not be counted if an official or the witnesses fails to sign the ballot. This is what happened in Fairbanks when an election worker failed to sign the question ballot. No one can say for certain why the ballot wasn't validated. Last year there were just two absentee, in person ballots and one question ballot that were discarded due to election official error so this isn't a common occurrence. However, Representative Coghill feels those three individual's votes should have been counted. SENATOR PHILLIPS asked whether the voter knew immediately that his vote didn't count. MS. MOSS said he was notified in writing two weeks after the election and started calling legislative offices immediately. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said the individual had contacted his office. He asked Gail Fenumiai to give the Division of Election's opinion and give her assurance that there isn't an opportunity for voter fraud with the passage of this legislation. GAIL FENUMIAI, Election Program Specialist with the Division of Elections, said the division supports the bill because they don't want to have to reject a vote simply because the election official made a mistake. Although there were only three votes affected this last year, elections have been won or lost with just one vote margins here in Alaska so one vote does make a difference. There is significant ballot accountability at all polls; a record is kept of the number of ballots received at each poll and the number used throughout the day. A ballot accountability report is filled out before the polls close to account for each ballot that was used. None of the other requirements such as having to show identification before voting or having the voter sign the envelope have changed, so there are still enough checks and balances in place that this legislation won't, in any way, promote fraud. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said there is a zero fiscal note for the bill. He asked whether there were any questions or others wanting to testify. There were none. There was no CS and no amendments. SENATOR PHILLIPS moved HB 109 and zero fiscal note from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections.